Thursday, September 03, 2009

Sheds, Streets and Charity

I wrote about the Men's Sheds movement in Australia a few posts back. I didn't know that the movement had reached New Zealand as well, so was pleasantly surprised to read in the paper this week that a second Shed was just up and running. They're actually calling them "Blokes' Sheds" here, so it may be an uptake of the idea rather than an offshoot of it.

The first Dunedin shed was established at Taieri Airport about a year ago (Taieri Airport now being a place where only little planes take off from), and the second shed is in the grounds of the Kings High School. It goes by the name of the South Dunedin Blokes' Shed, and officially opens on Saturday the 5th Sept, 2009. (Apparently Alexandra is also in the process of setting up a Blokes' Shed and Wellington is in on the act too.) You can see a video from Channel 9 about the Taieri Blokes' Shed here.

On another front, a group called Living Streets Dunedin is initiating the concept of making Dunedin streets more pleasant for pedestrians through "highlighting the good, the bad and the ugly in their walking environment." This sounds a little like the idea of getting to know your community, which Flagstaff Parish began a year or so ago.

And who says charity is dead? A young girl, Grace Hughes, was featured on television in July and in the Otago Daily Times in August. She has an inability to eat, and could be helped by treatment at a hospital in Austria. As the Star newspaper reports: Since then the family has been inundated with offers of help.

No comments: