Hey Blog! A couple of weeks ago I participated in a volunteer project at a local youth club, so that’s what I’ll tell you all about!
The Old Farm Bus is a local youth club space where I go most months to the home-ed club they run there. However, the volunteering project was different. Volunteer It Yourself (VIY) – an organisation which goes about the country helping in restoration projects and involving young people – came to the site to help. The space, I should probably mention, is a farmyard with five buses – of which three are double deckers – and a horsebox, all of which have been transformed into friendly spaces for play. For instance, the D&D bus (see Welcome to the world of Dungeons and Dragons, 05/08/23, for more on this fab roleplay game) had, before VIY came, a set of wooden seating downstairs, a bench upstairs, and a lot of floor space. During the project, we have made it better and it now has additionally: a long shelf downstairs, a desk and wooden seating upstairs, and brightly coloured handrails. Other buses have been augmented in slightly different ways; the graffiti bus has had wooden seating added at the far end and a couple of planters made to go outside it. This is an account of what we did.
We were mostly using wood to build things. One person could have done all the work, but it was easier with a bunch of us. First step was using a tape measure to measure the space where a plank was needed, then give the measurement to the cutting station. At the cutting station, if you were on duty there, you cut the plank/s to size, sanded them if needed, and returned them to wherever they were required. Back in the buses, you then put the plank/s in place and screwed them in. However, with a lot of people working, we could have some in the buses doing measuring and screwing, and some at the cutting station doing sawing and sanding. I was mostly at the cutting station, sanding the long planks for skirting boards and bench covers, and swiftly cutting through the planks. Some people were slow but accurate in this, some were slow and inaccurate, and a few were both. At the cutting station, we had three saws and two sanders. We also needed a set square to cut at right angles (this could have been done by the saw but would have taken a bit longer); a pencil, to mark the cuts; and elsewhere a set of screws and a couple of drills (fancy names combi-drill and impact driver, the former to make the hole for the screws and the latter to push the screws in), to attach the plank to the support. However, we did not work only with wood. I saw some people using rope to make a seat in an old tyre, and a few tins of spraypaint were also in business. The wooden seating we made was varnished, and the walls of one bus were coated in some kind of felt to make a warmer and friendlier atmosphere! I did not help with these particularly, but they did add to the site.
A few of my home-ed friends also went, as well. These were the ones I mostly spent the break times with – kicking a stuffed Peppa Pig around the site and playing the drums and guitar in the music bus! It was useful to know someone there, as most of the others went to local schools. A few left in the second week as half-term ended, but some stayed on. However, most of the ones that stayed didn’t hide away in a bus and not do much!
I have had a lot of practice with tools and wood. The shed is a good example of what I can do with a little help, a few pallets, some nails, a set of tools, and a little imagination! But I am exploring more ways of working with wood – I have recently acquired a wood turning lathe and have been making a quantity of little mice. I’m also looking out for more volunteering and restoration opportunities so WATCH THIS SPACE!