Making toys for Christmas
The handover of toys to the charity organizations will be done on the 30th of November this year. Huge congratulations to all members of the WOSP Toy Makers group. The toy makers get together every Wednesday to contribute their time and skill toward making an enormous number of toys to give away to needy children on the Mornington Peninsula.
Come along on Wednesday and join the fun and support our Mornington Peninsula charities!
Woodworkers of the Southern Peninsula hosted their charity toy handover today with over 1000 toys distributed to vital local charities to help Peninsula families in need have a brighter Christmas. Bless their sweet drill bits! Those guys are saw-some.
CR Antonella Celi, Greg Hunt MP & Gary Sanford Bendigo Bank Mgr were in attendance to congratulate John Bayliss, John Parrent & all the toy makers
The photo from the Mornington Peninsula Leader alerting people to the Toy handover on Saturday 9th Dec
On the 9th December the club, led by the president John Bayliss & the WOSP toy leader John Parrent, will present to a number of charities the wooden toys made by club members in 2017.
The charities including Food For All, Western Port Charities & the Salvation Army make the toys available to struggling families on the Mornington Peninsula.
Expected guests will include Gary Sanford, manager of the Bendigo Banks at Rosebud, Dromana & Rye, Greg Hunt, the Flinders Member of Parliament, councilor Antonella Celi & the Bunnings Liaison Manager, Alyce Fogarty.
If you visit the clubhouse on a Wednesday you will see plenty of activity. It appears everyone has a task and it is tackled with a smile & enthusiasm.
At the beginning of the year a plan is established considering the most popular toys, the resourcing to make, paint & store the toys before handover in late November.
John Parrent’s past project management skills is tested in bringing this plan together. The success of the quantity & quality of toys delivered over the past couple of years indicates 2017 should be another good year.
WOSP on a Wednesday is not just a toy workshop, it is a social gathering. It is a friendly community which in many ways provides the heart of the club. The attendees represent 20-25% of the club. A large percentage of the toy workforce also supports the Bunnings BBQ’s, the main income of the club. Conversations at mealtime are friendly & energetic. Discussions focus on the best techniques for streamlining production, prototyping new toys and arguing about whose football team was best.
To most December 3 is just another Saturday but for the club it is a celebratory day as it culminates the completion of almost 700 toys by a group of club volunteers. During the year these volunteers donate each Wednesday to toy manufacture. John Parrent excels in the general organisation while Bert Bartlett ensures there is a jig to simplify the making of any toy.
The toys include rocking swans, prams, bikes, garages, helicopters, ambulances & police cars, fire engines, push carts, ironing boards & irons, wheelbarrows, tool boxes, carousels, trams, ride on trucks, doll cradles, quoits. In addition there will be a number of trick boxes plus naughts & crosses games.
The toy will be donated to representatives from Food for All, Salvation Army, Rye Lions & Westernport Charities who in turn will distribute them to children within the Mornington Peninsula. The function will also be attended by representatives from Bunnings, Bendigo Bank & Hillview Quarries, fantastic supporters of WOSP.
Everyone is welcome to attend the toy handover.