 |
| ”Sheddie” Marilyn Bulford with her amazing “Girl’s Shed” collection admired by Takaro Rotarian Gillian Craven |
As
the 2015-2016 Rotary year began, the Rotary Club of Takaro, NZ was
looking for a new project to reignite the club, and after some
brainstorming, the “Girls’ Sheds” project was born. Fortunately the
club had some experience with this type of event, having held “Garden
Tour” and “Man Cave” projects several years before.
The
Rotary club first developed a talent pool of member’s skills to help
identify gaps and then found people with the needed skills
to enhance the project team. Tasks were allocated and time frames set
for completion. It quickly became clear that the club was onto something
great, so the excitement grew and a launch date of Valentine’s Day was
chosen.
Club
members were able to cover most functions using their wide pool of
skills, including extensive promotion on social media using
a regularly updated Facebook event page and Eventfinder, plus posters
throughout the community, all supported by an advertising campaign on
radio and in newspapers.
21 Girls’ Sheds on 15 sites around Palmerston North participated in the project and each also donated items for the raffle.
On
Saturday February 14 the weather was perfect. Each of the 260 ticket
holders met at the community hall and picked up a map and a
guide for the day and viewed a PowerPoint presentation with photos of
the sites, so guests could choose which ones they were most keen to
explore and maybe buy some of the products on sale there. Raffles
tickets were purchased, picnic lunches collected and
the tour began to see what the “girls of Palmy” and surrounding areas
are doing in their special spaces.
The $860 ticket sales for the donated raffle covered the day’s costs, including lunches.
Two
Rotarians were assigned to each site to act as guides and security for
the “Sheddies”. The guests found out about what local women
do in their sheds and were amazed at the variety creativity and talent
on display, including doll making, garden art, glass, cheese making, soap making, jewellery, quilting plus other interesting
ventures.
The overall outcome was a sensational and fun day for everyone involved, as illustrated by the feedback received:
·
“Sheddie” exhibitor Julie Nolan said, “What a great day ... hanging out with Carla, Suzi and
Kea telling people about sculpting and how therapeutic and fulfilling it is. Thanks Rotary for an awesome event.”
·
Guest
Julie Smart said, “A fantastic day thank you. We had so much fun and a
lot of laughs. Loved the hospitality, the friendly Rotary welcome
and the privilege of seeing some of the talents in the various sheds
and some gorgeous gardens. Thank you.”
·
President Elect Heather Browning
commented,
“There are so many positive things that happened. Friends getting
together for a day of fun to head out on a mystery tour to see what
girls do in their sheds, Takaro Rotarians working so well together to
ensure the day
was a success, and our wonderful "Sheddies" volunteering their time and
their sheds to make this day the awesome experience it was for
everyone. But the best thing about the Girls’ Sheds Tour was that we
achieved what we set out to do. Together we have raised
more than $7000 for youth projects in Takaro! Thank you everyone for
your support and participation.”
To
conclude this project, Rotary invited all of the “Sheddies” to a club
night and presented each of them with a framed thank you certificate
from Takaro Rotary.
