DEDICATED volunteers have given the Tooleybuc Bridge Keeper’s Cottage a new life while learning work skills and gaining more opportunities in the process.
Echuca Discoveries participants take pride in sorting and displaying donations, handcrafting merchandise and sourcing products from fellow participants and from across the region.
Manager Jo O’Bree has watched the positive impact the Bridge Keeper’s Cottage project has had on participants.
“It was going to close down but it’s been taken over by these guys, and now it’s not just an op shop but it’s a community hub with local produce,” Ms O’Bree said.
“Having their presence in the community showcases their abilities and the skills they’re learning.
“It all flows through.
“If they’re working at the op shop and the community can see what they can do, it flows through to bigger opportunities – I think that’s an important thing that we forget.”
Participant John White has taken leadership in the store, opening the cottage in the morning, making wood crafts to sell in the store, doing stocktakes and learning about Tooleybuc history and information to provide a tourism service.
This responsibility and engagement with the community gives him self-confidence and makes him feel part of the community.
“I’m learning the money side of things, and I get to learn other new skills and meet new people,” Mr White said.
Shannon Hoare manages the store alongside John, inspecting and displaying clothing donations, setting up the display outside and balancing the till.
Ms Hoare has also taken steps towards achieving her life goal of working in a café.
“Shannon’s happy doing what she does with the Bridge Keeper’s shop, and it seems like that has led to doing some work in one of the cafes – it can lead to bigger things,” Ms O’Bree said.
Participants who work shifts and contribute to the store are also learning valuable skills and feeling the benefits of providing a service.
Charlee Sheahan enjoys exercising responsibility and meeting new people not only in the community but from around the country as they stop in.
“I haven’t done much volunteering and work so I think this helps with my work skills and I just like helping the community out,” she said.
“When I was younger the community helped me out so I feel like I’m paying people back for it, which is really important.”
The participants’ visibility in the store and their active role in day-to-day operations is also changing customers’ minds about people living with disability.
“I like when people walk in and I go and help them, and then I explain some of my disabilities and they’re really shocked that I can do all this,” Ms Sheahan said.
“It changes some people’s view from bad to really nice, which is what I really like.”
Ms Sheahan also makes clay wares to sell in the store through her participation with Echuca Discoveries.
Connor Griffith-Andrews is excited about building up his work experience and woodworking products to sell in the store.
“It sets good challenges when we get donations that don’t fit the standards, or when clothes have holes in them,” he said.
“It’s building my work confidence for when I need to do more hours in a workplace.”
The woodworking crew upcycle materials from other op shops around the town and make them their own, such as an old table or lazy Susan base, and make their own items from scratch like bird houses and dog kennels.
They can also take custom orders through the Bridge Keeper’s Cottage.
Local produce includes the Honey Bee Biscuits made by other participants, honey from Wood Wood, Nanna’s chutneys and sauces, gourmet coffee that local winemakers brew, local nuts and native plants sourced from a disability company in Mildura.
As a tourism information centre, it has also commissioned Tooleybuc merchandise such as coffee cups and magnets from a local person in Goodnight.
