Rand Aid workshop nails it for handy men and women
LYNDHURST– The workshop meant that they can carry on with their hobbies without annoying their spouses or neighbours.
Rand Aid Association residents drilled, soldered and hammered away without annoying their spouses or neighbours, as they enjoyed their hobby together at the central workshop in Lyndhurst.
A huge workshop area was made available to the men and women who enjoy nothing more than wiling away their leisure time doing metalwork, woodwork and the like. Already, residents from Inyoni Creek, Thornhill Manor, Elphin Lodge and Tarentaal were making use of the workshop.
The workshop is kitted with a variety of equipment such as radial saws, thickness planers, table saws, pedestal drills, woodworking and metal lathes, moulds, drills and grinders – most of which were donated by residents.
“The initial idea came from Phyllis Phillips, the liaison manager at Elphin Lodge and Ron Smith Care Centre, who suggested a workshop that would offer residents an alternative to the activities offered by the centre’s occupational therapy (OT) division – which mainly involve arts and crafts,” Zabeth Zühlsdorff, the association’s general manager in the services and advance division said.
The idea evolved into a fully-fledged workshop for the association residents but there were plans in the pipeline to create a smaller workshop space at Ron Smith Care Centre to cater for the less mobile people who live there.
Women are welcome too and one of the first workshop members was Thornhill Manor’s Vicky Keenan. A qualified occupational therapist, Keenan is comfortable wielding drills and other workshop equipment and is hard at work creating wooden games to be used to supplement the village’s existing programmes.
The workshop is likened by residents to Australia’s Men’s Shed which is an updated version of the shed in the backyard that has long been a part of Australian culture, just as garage workshops are part of South Africa’s culture.
Like the Men’s Shed, the Rand Aid workshop will focus on skills transfer by holding demonstrations and will encourage members to make items for less fortunate members of the community. A comfortable area is also provided so that members can enjoy a cup of tea or coffee and a chat.
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