Men’s Shed keeping busy

Weta in Kowhai Park in Warkworth have some cosy and creative new nesting sites after a collaboration between the Warkworth Men’s Shed and Warkworth Primary School.

Teacher Deb Jollivet says after “adopting” the park as part of an Auckland Council programme, and while learning about ecology and ecosystems there, the school approached the Warkworth Men’s Shed to ask if they could help by designing and crafting some weta hotels to add to the park.

“Mike Izzard kindly agreed to take on the project, made up some prototypes using the Auckland Council designs and then finally crafted five beautiful weta hotels for the children to take to the park and install,” she says.

With Council rangers helping to find suitable spots, three of the hotels were installed on the lower loop track by Year One students. The final two will eventually be installed on the upper loop track once an upgrade on the track has been finished.

Izzard says every school in the area now has at least one weta hotel, and some also have a bug hotel as well. The hotels also encourage the children to think about architecture and design as they are able to add to the original wooden structure, he says.

Warkworth Men’s Shed secretary Paul Maguiness says they are great learning tools for students, with the children monitoring insect activity in them.

The volunteer group, which despite the name also has five women among its 40 members, has a workshop set up at the Warkworth A&P Showgrounds.

They meet during the week to exchange woodworking and other skills, and to make items for the community, including schools and libraries.

Along with the insect motels, the Men’s Shed has also been involved recently with building possum traps. The Puhoi Playgroup has benefited from the group’s skills with a new storage box and the Warkworth Library a new coat stand.

For Izzard, one of his favourite projects was restoration of an old table from the Whangateau Hall.

“It came up beautifully. It was kauri and over 100 years old,” he says.

Warkworth Men’s Shed meeting times: Mondays and Thursdays from 9.30am until 2pm, Wednesday 9.30am to 12.30pm.