We were delighted to be invited to the Leonard Cheshire house on Norfolk Avenue in Glencaple this afternoon, to the grand opening of their garden shed!

Joan McAlpine MSP was the guest of honour, and helped to cut the ribbon.

This is no ordinary shed! Resident George Halliday made the shed himself, with the help of volunteer befriender Angus Hoban! And an impressive construction it is. This will allow George, in particular, to use the outside space in all seasons and weathers. 

Angus told us that he volunteers on Thursday evenings from around 6 to 8:30 pm and that the work took about 5 months in total! They started the project in July this year. He went on to explain that,

 

 

[aesop_quote type=”block” background=”#94b69b” text=”#102c8a” align=”left” size=”1″ quote=”the timber was bought locally, and he took it bit by bit to his workshop in Torthorwald. The body frame was cut so it could be put together in Glencaple – it was 6 individual parts that were screwed together to form the shape. The cladding was cut to size and brought down to Glencaple to be treated with fence paint, which took a few weeks to do as it had a few coats on it! The roof was made up of 6 triangular sections, again the timber had been cut and brought to Glencaple for assembly. The roof was coated with PVA to waterproof it, then when dry, the felt was stuck to each section and trimmed off, a centre piece was made for the top of the roof and stuck in place. The roof was moved outside then. We had to make a base for the shed, 12 slabs were bought, the ground was levelled and the slabs were places on a dry mix of cement and sand. George and I then set about putting the cladding on the frame. Brian helped me lift the roof into position and it was secured using long screws. Perspex was bought and I set about making 2 windows in my workshop. It was at this time George broke his foot and I finished off with the help of Brian.” parallax=”off” direction=”left” revealfx=”off”]

This is a win-win situation where George and Angus meet up in the garage once a week for just 2 hours a time to make the shed. George gets to use his hands in practical ways, and is rewarded with a shed after all the hard work, and Angus gets to pass on his skills and finds the whole process rewarding.

Leonard Cheshire are keen to be a part of the local community, and to be seen just like every other house in the village. The charity supports individuals to live, learn and work as independently as they choose, whatever their ability. Whilst they don’t want to be seen as anything different, they are keen that good work done is promoted. 

Angus and George have also made bird boxes and refurbished an old forgotten tricycle, which is now being used by Buddies Dumfries, who ‘promote cycle awareness and fitness for the whole community through fun, fitness & friendship’.

Angus told us a bit on the trike project:

 

 

[aesop_quote type=”block” background=”#97af8c” text=”#2d4480″ align=”left” size=”1″ quote=”Bill Milvern told me we were having a trike donated to us but it would need a bit of work doing on it… was I interested in taking on the project with George? I collected the Trike from Moffat where it had sat for 30 years, it was in a bad state, rusty frame, perished tyres etc. I stripped the trike down in my own workshop and took the paint off right down to the metal frame. It was brought down to Glencaple where George and I painted it over a few weeks.
The gear assembly was totally rusted and we could not have used this. Fortunately, I was given a bike as a donor by a neighbour.  This was useful because we used the gear assembly and many of the cables, seat and other parts.
Many of the old parts were brought down to Glencaple where George and I sanded them by hand. After a few weeks we assembled the trike and gave it a test ride!” parallax=”off” direction=”left” revealfx=”off”]

Angus and George are now keen to start a project of making things to sell e.g. planters and more bird boxes which they hope will also help them to become more familiar in the local community. 

Following the official opening, and photo opportunities, we had a lovely cup of tea and biscuits around the table with everyone and found out a little more about life at Leonard Cheshire. Team Leader, Brian Cameron explained that everyone is looking forward to a Christmas Meal out at The Nith Hotel soon. 

From left: Sue Greig, George Halliday, Bill Milven, Brian Cameron, Angus Hoban, Malcolm Laurie, Joan McAlpine MSP

Bill Milven, Volunteer Coordinator told us that having a purpose is a very important part of volunteering. They have vacancies for one or two other volunteer befriender posts in Glencaple.

If you think this is something you would like to be involved in, you don’t have to have amazing engineering skills like Angus – everybody has something to offer! There are many different things you can get involved in.

Get in touch with Bill on 01387 711 337 or at Bill.Milven@leonardcheshire.org 

Or check out the Leonard Cheshire site for more: at www.leonardcheshire.org/volunteer

On asking Angus ‘what’s next’ – “a crazy golf course” was his reply!