We are ready - almost!!

Hi everyone, and welcome to 2025! I’m Toni, the new Operations Manager, and I’m really looking forward to meeting you all. I’m excited to be part of WCW and bring my experience, passion, and ideas to the role. A little about me: I’ve lived at Lake Hawea since 2016 and have been involved with volunteer organizations for many years. Since 2017, I’ve been part of the leadership team at Wanaka Arts. Before that, I worked in the residential building industry and ran a teaching art studio and workshop.

We’re happy to let you know that the Fabricate Workshop will reopen next week, with the Wood Workshop following soon after. While things might look the same on the surface, we’ve been working hard behind the scenes to update how we operate, including introducing a new Health and Safety / Training system. It may take a little time to settle in, but we’re confident it will make things run smoothly. Think of us like the grebes - calm on the surface but paddling like crazy underneath!

Here’s what you need to know as we kick off the year:

Membership Fees: For 2025, membership remains $50 per person for the year. However, 2024 financial members will receive a discounted rate of $35 for this year only, recognizing the time lost during closures. If you’d like to pay the full $50, that’s always appreciated. Invoices will be sent soon.

Session Fees: To help keep memberships affordable, we’re introducing a session fee (amount to be confirmed) per session. Regular ‘community work’ volunteers won’t need to pay session fees.

Workshop Access: Both workshops will operate during set session times. Initially, these will be Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons (1 - 4 pm). The Fabricate Workshop will open first while we train supervisors for the Wood Workshop. We’re also working on adding evening and weekend sessions soon.

Volunteer sessions: These will continue on Tuesday and Thursday mornings for both workshops.

Workshop Supervisors: For health and safety compliance, a trained Workshop Supervisor must be on-site during sessions. Supervisors ensure everyone’s safety and handle opening and closing but aren’t required to be tutor members. If the current session times don’t suit, you’re welcome to train as a supervisor and run sessions at times that work for you, as long as these are booked into our calendar and there are at least two members on-site.

Inductions and Training: All existing members must complete a one-time induction before using the facilities. Previous equipment training will be recorded in our new system, and any new training will be logged as well. Some additional tools and equipment have been identified as requiring training. These will also need to be tested and signed off before members can use them. Members can only use tools they’ve been trained to operate.

Payments: We will be adding an EFTPOS machine at the workshop to make payments easier, and we’re even exploring the idea of a loyalty card in the future to make payments easier for regular users.

Fabricate Workshop News

Volunteers - please help! We have been swamped with some amazing fabrics and need your help urgently to sort and measure the HUGE volume of fabric donations we have been gifted in the last week or two.

Fabric Sorting Session:

• Tuesday 28th January 10am - 1pm
• Thursday 30th January 10am - 1pm
• Then every Tuesday and Thursday going forward.

Fabric Rummage SALE

De-stash our cache Saturday 15th February 12.00 - 2.00

We have waaaayyyy too much fabric in the workshop so will be having a De-stash sale at the Fabricate Workshop. Please let all your textile loving friends know they can come to rummage through to find just the right piece for their next project.

Beginners Sewing Class with Sue James

Bookings are now open for our first Sewing Class with Sue.
Tuesday 26th February 6.30 - 8.30pm for six weeks.
$180 for members (Non members $210) For more details or to book, email: workshop@wcw.org.nz

Feedback

We’d love to hear from you! Please keep in touch and share your constructive feedback with us - it’s really important as we work towards having WCW open and thriving as soon as possible. While we’re moving forward quickly, we know we might not get everything perfect straight away, so your input is invaluable.

What classes would you like to see offered in the Woodshop or Sewing Room? What session times would work best for you?

Could you step up as a supervisor or trainer? If you’re interested in learning more or helping out with this process, we’d love to hear from you.

You can contact us anytime! Email us at workshop@wcw.org.nz, send a message in the WhatsApp group, or contact me (Toni) directly at 021 772 237. Or pop into the workshop, I am usually there Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 10 - 4. We’re excited to welcome everyone back and look forward to a great year ahead. Thanks for your support - see you soon at the workshop.

Toni, Ben, Gwilym and Alan