Central Coast Woodturners are urgently searching for a new permanent home.
The not-for-profit group has been operating at the Old Milk Factory at Wyong for the past 18 years and now, due to corporate restructuring within the complex, the Woodturners will be homeless by Christmas.
Spokesperson Alan Smith they’d been well looked after by David Hannan and his management team at the Milk Factory but unfortunately through no fault of their own, it was time for the Woodturners to move on.
“Ideally we’d love to find a place with a large workshop area, preferably at least 150-200sqm, with a concrete floor for our woodturners, a smaller area for our carvers, pyrographers and scroll sawyers, a small kitchen area, bathroom and a reasonable amount of available parking,” he said.
“We need three-phase power for some of our equipment and the area would also have to be accessible for our senior members.
“Unfortunately, we can’t pay the large rents that commercial property owners are seeking but we could pay a small token rent plus electricity.”
Central Coast Woodturners is a self-funded group of local artisans who want to keep their craft alive by passing on their skills and knowledge to future generations.
They came together on a cold, wet day in June 1985 when several like-minded gentlemen answered a newspaper ad and met under a tree in the grounds of The Entrance High School.
“We grew from those very humble beginnings, with half a dozen members, to be the well-respected group of artisans that we are today, with about 90 men and women devoted to keeping our craft alive,” Smith said.
“Too many old skills fall by the wayside with the relentless march of progress but, happily, many young folks are learning the skills and becoming talented artisans in their own right.”
Members of Central Coast Woodturners are proud to have taught many school students and their teachers the art of woodturning, with many of them joining the group and going on to become talented wood artists themselves.
The group also spends a lot of time fundraising for kids and parents in need and supports many worthwhile charities.
Through their Toy Fund, the Woodturners buy thousands of dollars’ worth of toys and gift vouchers every year to supplement the toys that they make themselves to distribute through several women’s refuges at Christmas.
They make hundreds of bowls every year and fill them with chocolates and lollies for residents of various nursing homes as Christmas gifts.
“We supported the residents of Cobargo area after their dreadful fire by sending a small convoy of utes and trailers laden with essential items such as shovels, rakes and so on,” Smith said.
“We also supplied thousands of dollars’ worth of hay and animal feed and we even funded a weekend bus trip to the coast for the traumatised local kids.
“And in the recent floods we were able to deliver care packages and essential items to many families in the north who lost everything.”
Smith said the Woodturners also conduct demonstrations at Seniors Villages, at local libraries, fairs and festivals and from their own workshop on Open Days, as well as guest speaking for many groups such as Probus, Rotary and others.
Anyone who can help provide a new home for Central Coast Woodturners, should phone Alan Smith on 0243 921 864 or 0414 186 963, alternatively Peter Hamilton on 0243 677 647 or 0416 306 009.
Sue Murray