With summer well on the way, the MenShed team at the Wanaka Community Workshop have been working on infrastructure – infrastructure with which to make the best of warm sunny days.
Thus far the work has resulted in a couple of picnic tables. Each table is built of recycled timber, timber which would otherwise have found its way to the landfill.
The first table will soon be hosting customers of a food van in Three Parks while the second will be used by volunteers at the Workshop. Others will find their way to various public spaces about the Upper Clutha.
Something to make life in Wanaka just a little better.
This week the MenShed Team at the Wanaka Community Workshop delivered a couple of mobile stands for pot plants. The stands enable large pot plants to be moved about.
They are simple in design but bring delight to the gardener.
The snow is almost gone and Christmas is nearly here.
This week the MenShed team at the Wanaka Community Workshop have been lending Santa a hand with his transport.
A new sleigh for Santa is coming together at the Workshop. Built from recycled materials the sleigh is light enough for flight yet sturdy for the loads involved.
Expect to see Santa’s new sleigh about town over the next few weeks.
This month, we celebrate four years of Wānaka Community Workshop. Thanks to the incredible support of our community, we’ve transformed from a humble idea in 2020 to a thriving hub of creativity, learning, and connection.
Together, we’ve created a place where people can learn new skills, make intergenerational connections, and help shift towards a circular economy. Whether it’s youth, older adults, or new folks to the area, WCW brings together a mix of people, offering a safe space to connect, learn, and share.
From diverting construction waste from landfill, to fostering mental well-being and providing a welcoming space for everyone, it’s been a team effort — and we couldn’t have done it without you.
The true success of WCW lies in the stories we hear from our participants. People find friendships, learn practical skills, and gain a sense of belonging at the Workshop. These personal stories of growth and connection prove that our efforts are making a tangible difference.
You’ll find our Impact Report on our website and attached to this email, where you can learn more about our social and environmental impacts over the last 4 years.
Your support inspires us to keep working together to make Wānaka a place where we reuse valuable materials to produce useful items for our community; and a space where everyone feels included, valued, and is empowered to create positive change. Thank you.
Its great to see stuff made by the MenShed Team at work in the community.
With summer nearly here, kids are out and about. For them we have placed a few toy box’s – outside the Recreation Centre in Wanaka and lakeside at Roys Bay and Bremner Bay.
When placed we “seeded” the box’s with a few toys. Since then Mum’s and Dad’s have added to the collection.
Today the toy box’s are an attraction in their own right.
On Tuesday and Thursday mornings the MenShed team at the Wanaka Community Workshop welcome volunteers willing to give a helping hand.
Many of the volunteers who turn up for a day or two are from overseas. They may be between jobs or just passing through and want to contribute to the community of Upper Clutha.
We have a range of projects that can be undertaken by anyone – no matter their level of skill.
We love being part of our regions offer of great hospitality and experience to our visitors.
Like the elves, the MenShed team at the Wanaka Community Workshop are building toys.
Each is built from wood upcycled from our local building industry. All the toys have wheels and come in various shapes and sizes – from trains, trucks and cars. The toys are simple and sturdy.
Look out for them in the beach toy libraries on the lakeshore in both Wanaka and Hawea.
The MenShed team at the Wanaka Community Workshop love working for kids.
This week the team are completing a couple of projects for the Hawea Play Group. A play stove and kitchen tub will join a play table that we delivered recently.
Our next project for the Hawea Play Group will be a new play house – a house that will replace that which has given great service over many years but today is pretty tired.
Each of these products are built from recycled materials donated from builders and construction firms across our region.
Despite the odd snow dump, spring has sprung. In response across the region gardeners are clearing off the frost cloth and getting their seedling in the earth.
The MenShed Team at the Wanaka Community Workshop are preparing too. For us it means building wooden crates to collect, transport and display all that garden produce expected over the summer months.
Built from untreated upcycled timber the crates look great.
In all our lives we experience challenging times. For most of us the time between school and getting your first job is a challenge. We all need a helping hand at such times.
Once a week, over recent weeks, the MenShed team have been hosting Lachlan who is soon to leave high school. A few skills as well as working alongside others in an environment similar to work are what the Wanaka Community Workshop can provide.
The initiative is shared between the Workshop and MINT, our community agency supporting those members of our community with disability.
We at the Wanaka Community Workshop really appreciate the opportunity to work alongside MINT on initiatives such as this.
Wheels at Wanaka is an iconic event hosted within our Region. It draws people from throughout New Zealand and overseas.
Wheels however is more than an event. Wheels is a charity which supports a wide range of local community groups including the Wanaka Community Workshop.
Over recent weeks the MenShed Team at the Workshop have been creating bench seats and large cup holders.
The Wheels at Wanaka site is huge. The bench seats will be placed at bus stops around the site. The cupholders will help avoid the need to use throw away cups for drinks such as coffee and tea.
Both the seats and cupholders are built from recycled materials and both will contribute to reducing the environmental impact of the event.
Its a great partnership and the MenShed team are delighted to work with the events team at Wheels at Wanaka.
It is always great to welcome new faces to our MenShed Team.
Some folks are just passing through our region and want to contribute and met a few locals.
For others this is their first visit to the Wanaka Community Workshop of what becomes many.
Our new volunteers want to get stuff done.
In response we have a variety of projects which reflect the wide range of skill and experience that volunteers walk in the door with. We also aim to represent our community in the best possible manner.
Community Link is an agency that ensures people in need of support across the Upper Clutha are connected with those who can help. In addition Community Link operates a range of services such as our Foodbank, transport to our local hospitals and Meals on Wheels.
Community Link operates from The Hub in McDougall Street.
Thanks to our local Mitre 10, the Hub recently a donation of a BBQ.
The MenShed team from the Wanaka Community Workshop responded to a call to assemble the kitset and get the machine operational.
We know blokes struggle with this sort of thing but the instruction diagrams did turn out to be useful and after a couple of hours all was good.
Its great to our business sector and community groups coming together to the benefit of all across the Upper Clutha.
Every now and then the volunteers at the Wanaka Community Workshop take a day off. Previous days have involved trips into Central Otago. This time we stayed local visiting the Wanaka Transport and Toy Museum.
The Museum houses a great collection – many of us found examples of our first motor vehicle among the collection.
For the Volunteers these days are just about wellbeing – getting out, doing something a bit different and enjoying some time together.
The Hawea Play Group is a great community organisation. Based at Hawea Flat the Group serves Mum’s and Dad’s across one of our fastest growing regions in the Upper Clutha.
Recently the MenShed team at the Wanaka Community Workshop has partnered with the Hawea Play Group in replacing play equipment. Built from recycled materials a outdoor play table has been delivered.
A kitchen involving a play stove and cupboard are being worked on.
Plans are afoot for a whole new playhouse.
Its great to have community groups working together for the benefit of all.
The MenShed Team at the Wanaka Community Workshop are proud to work alongside community groups across the Upper Clutha.
Recently the Team completed building and installing “doggie gates”. Their design enables dogs to easily pass rabbit proof fences established as part of a project by Wai Wanaka. The project is all about enhance native plantings along the shore of Lake Wanaka.
Its a great project and one the MenShed team was delighted to support.
Each of us can recall their best childhood toy. Some of us are fortunate to be able to pass their best toy to their child or grandchild. Even better should their child or grandchild also love it.
This week the MenShed team had the opportunity to undertake some running repairs to a large Tonka Toy truck. The tray had separated, wheels wobbly and rust ever present.
Thanks to Gerald’s skill the Tonka Toy is back in active service.
Look for it doing its stuff with its 2 year old master on a lakeside beach this summer.
The MenShed team often respond to small projects and repairs sought by local residents. The projects are often just a bit unusual or commercial alternatives are not readily available.
This week Gillian finished a pot stand – a stand that could cope with a 50 kilo pot and plant. The heavy duty stand also needed to be mobile enabling the plant to be moved about in order to avoid our frosts.
Built from recycled materials the stand will soon be in service.
We are fortunate at the Wanaka Community Workshop in having a decent sized trailer. We regularly use the trailer to pick up wood and construction materials donated to the workshop as well as deliver completed projects.
Members can also borrow the trailer.
This week members used the trailer to transport a load from Albertown to Wanaka. While not heavy the trampoline looked pretty dramatic.
All arrived safe and sound. A couple of local kids are pretty happy about it.
The team at the MenShed regularly construct traps for the removal of unwanted pests.
We also build accommodation for animals, insects and birds we wish to see more of.
This week the team were working on nesting box’s for owls.
The Upper Clutha is home to a couple of night time avian predators – the native Morepork or Ruru and the Little Owl.
The Morepork can be heard (and sometimes seen) in bush areas within the built up areas of Wanaka including Sticky Forest.
Little Owls can be seen around dusk and dawn on the edge of bush areas or farm buildings.
While both the Morepork and Little Owl are not threatened in our district they can benefit from support. We use recycled materials to complete “box’s” to provide safe nesting for the birds.
The “box’s” will encourage birds in locations where populations of mice threaten other species. The accommodation is thus part of a natural pest control approach.
Moreporks and Little Owls are not tidy – their nests become deposits of bird poo, rotting meat, feathers and fur. Not the greatest! As a result the nesting box’s have a flap which allows for easy cleaning at the end of the season.
Riding for the Disabled is an organisation that has long played a key role in communities across New Zealand.
Wanaka is no exception.
The MenShed Team at the Wanaka Community Workshop this week completed a bridge for use by horses and their riders. Built to a specified design the bridge provides an obstacle intended to promote confidence and skills.
Built from recycled materials including a mat last used at the finish line of a popular local triathlon event.
The team is proud to support local community groups such as Riding for the Disabled. Its great to put our skills to use creating something new and different.
This week the MenShed team completed a finish line tower for Aspiring Athletics. The tower will be placed at their Three Parks track for the 2024-25 Season. Its role is to provide a space for an official whose role is to determine who won.
Created from upcycled materials the project involved both working with steel and wood. This is new for the team and reflects our recent investment in a light metal working capacity.
In addition to projects for community groups, from time to time the MenShed undertake projects for households and small firms. The funds raised go toward the operational costs of the workshop – costs such as electricity, repairs, maintenance and rent.
Often these projects are quite specialised.
This week the team delivered a couple of covers for septic tanks. They look great and will enhance any landscaping plan.
We are well equipped at the Wanaka Community Workshop.
While we purchase gear from time to time, most of our kit has been donated. A few weeks back we greatly received a machine that plane’s and thins wooden boards. It had sat unused for a few years but with some care, some repairs, an electrical check and a paint job it looked just the picture.
It is a relatively heavy beast so it was thought a mobile work table upon which the machine would be based would be useful. It was soon knocked up.
Together the planner machine and its work table make a great addition to the workshop. It increases our capacity to get stuff done that makes a practical difference for communities across the Upper Clutha.
Every so often folk drop into the Wanaka Community Workshop with something to repair.
This week the item was a long loved lounge chair created from wood recycled from a wine barrel.
Fortunately we had in stock wooden boards sourced from a couple of wine barrels. These together with the application of some skill soon had the renovated chair back in service.
Wanaka is a creative town – people who are innovative and artistic.
We are fortunate at the Wanaka Community Workshop that such people are part of our community.
Over recent days Fabricate, our textile workshop, has hosted the creation of a brace of giant hares.
Created with imagination using upcycled fabric. Each is stuffed with shredded fabric made using our machine purchased with a grant from the Waste Minimisation Program Queenstown Lakes District Council.
We know Hares are regarded as pests but these will be treasured.
Its great to see the work of the MenShed team appreciated.
A few months back we but together what is basically a large crate using wood recycled from wooden pallets. We named it a Beach Toy Library and placed it on the foreshore of Lake Wanaka along with a few wooden toys.
The Beach Toy Library has proved popular.
Kids have used it and Mum & Dads have added to the collection.
Work is underway at Beacon Point to enhance the natural environment.
Wai Wanaka and Wanaka Backyard Trapping are leading this work. Seedlings are being established and paths upgraded. A key focus is to reduce the adverse impact of pests including rabbits and stoats.
This week the team at the MenShed delivered traps that will be used in a new trap line established at Beacon Point. The traps will target stoats and be managed by volunteers.
Its a great project, one that will make a difference for an iconic area of Wanaka.
The Wanaka Community Workshop is proud to be supporting this work.
This week the team was out and about raising funds for the Community Workshop.
Thanks to Cadrona we had four daily ski passes as prizes for our raffle.
We also had help from the Cadrona fairy’s – two great personalities who channeled folk to purchase a ticket.
The fairy’s day job is welcoming people to our region and our skifields. They bring a smile to the faces of visitors and enhance their experience. People who make a difference. Great job!
This week the MenShed team delivered our third Doggie Stick Library.
This new library is located along the shore of Lake Hawea.
Each is intended to promote a smile – especially with regard to the classic titles each library contains
We have had some great feedback from dog walkers and walkers concerning the two libraries located on the shoreline of Lake Wanaka. Lets hope the newest member to the network gets a similar response.
Fabricate is an important element of the Wanaka Community Workshop.
Fabricate is our textile workshop. It comes with a range of sewing machines, materials, tools and equipment. Most important are the people – people with the ideas, the skills and the drive to get stuff done.
Recently Fabricate celebrated two years of operation.
Clare and Sue, the team behind the idea and reality of Fabricate, were present to mark the event.
Fabricate has made a difference for many across the Upper Clutha. Its provided an opportunity to learn new skills by working alongside others while also encouraging the repair and recycling of clothing and fabric.
The MenShed Team have been building cycle stands from recycled timber since the formation of the Wanaka Community Workshop. They are now found in households across the Upper Clutha.
Recently a family sought small versions of the cycle stands for their kids bikes.
We had not even thought about kids bikes!
Clearly we were stuck in our ways.
The team soon focused on the new product. Within a day four stands were created and delivered.
We love it when people drop in with new ideas and approaches.
Classic snow sports equipment relied upon simple materials, especially wood.
Recently the MenShed team completed work to refurbish a snow sledge. The steel runners were cleaned off and repainted while recycled timber was used to create the platform.
The owner will use the sled for a few runs before it becomes a key display item within a new hospitality development.
There is snow on the hills and the fingers are numb after a morning bike ride to the Workshop.
Must be time for the mid year Christmas lunch!
The Wanaka Community Workshop is not just about making stuff. It is also about wellbeing, getting folk together to learn, share stories and views. Food always play to such interactions.
Thanks to Gillian this week the team at the Workshop enjoyed a great meal complete with a chocolate fountain.
It’s great when we get a chance to learn new things, especially if it involves some new peice of kit!
This week the MenShed team benefited from a visitor. In town for four weeks he spotted the opportunity to volunteer at the Workshop. He did not just bring his experience and skills but a nifty wooden wheel cutter.
Perfect for toys!
An hour later with some donated materials we had a car and bus!
Soon after tractors!
Simple but great. Great for kids to paint, race and push around.
Volunteers at Fabricate have been busy creating a range of yoga bolsters.
A yoga bolster is an accessory popular among practitioners of the art.
The bolster is used to provide comfort, support poses and increase stretching during restorative postures and deep breathing exercises.
Our bolsters are full of fabric processed by our shredder. Funded via a grant from the sustainability fund of Queenstown Lakes District Council our shredder is the only such machine in the Region.
Using the machine allows clean clothing and other textiles to be upcycled and reused rather than dumped.
Material processed by the shredder is also used as stuffing across a host of products created by Workshop members in our textile work room.
Over the last couple of years the lilliput library network serving the Upper Clutha community has expended. Many of the small libraries have been built by the MenShed team.
While the team are great at building they are not so great at painting.
To overcome this for some of our projects we partner with local artist Chrisi Weeks.
Chrisi works with children to create great artworks. The latest lilliput library is a great example.
What a fantastic result.
Our newest Lilliput Library will soon be found at the Community Hub.
The town is gearing for the Winter season and we are welcoming visitors and seasonal workers alike.
Its even better when, before the ski season commences in earnest, they drop into the Workshop to see what they can do for our community. We are always delighted to have some extra hands. The creation of a a large storage unit built from recycled timber for the Wanaka Recreation Centre received a boost and will now be delivered just that little bit earlier.
Its not only humans who feel the effects, the tiger worms at the Wanaka Community Gardens slow down as well. This time around the MenShed team at the Wanaka Community Workshop aim to make life for the worms just a little easier with new accommodation.
The worms are key for compost. Compost is key to the success of the gardens. Making lives easier for the worms leads to better vege’s for humans. Its simple really!
Using timber and materials donated by our local construction sector this week the MenShed team completed a run of “tidy’s” for our local Primary School. The “run” was quite large, enough for three classes of kids.
Each “Tidy” is a simple wooden box.
Each will provide a location for students to store their stuff.
Each is a practical example concerning the value of recycling and re-use.
Grow Wanaka is our district’s community garden – and more – teaching folk how to grow food in the dry and the cold.
The garden and the people who volunteer to create and manage it are significant assets for our community – get to the Outlet and have a look for yourself.
This week the MenShed team have been racing to complete a small relocatable shed to house tools and provide shelter for the volunteers working over winter.
A second project involves the creation of new accommodation for the gardens Tiger Worms.
The Worms play a key role in recycling organic material and the creation of great compost. A great example of a circular system with benefits all round.
Winter is coming and again we are racing to get the new homes in place before the severe frosts and cool temperatures are with us.
Every so often the “kid” emerges from our MenShed team members.
What emerged this week was a toy garage.
Something for the grandchild to play with.
Built from recycled timber and modelled from a photograph found on the web lets hope the toy lasts for years. That said the 2 year old for which it is intended is pretty rough!
The network of small informal book exchanges serving communities across the Upper Clutha continues to grow.
Called Lilliput Libraries each is managed by a local community group, business or household.
The MenShed team at the Wanaka Community Workshop have used recycled materials to build many, most have two doors but some, slightly smaller, have a single door. Each has a window so that the books can be seen from outside.
After painting the recently built library will soon be plying its business outside The Hub in McDougall Street.
