Students in wheelchairs at Tangara School in Renwick will now be able to revel in the use of a rocker.
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Crafted by members of the Moss Vale Men’s Shed, the see-saw style contraption fits three different sized wheelchairs.
“It’s just another motion for them that they can’t normally do,” said Alan Barnes, who built the rocker upon request from the school.
The men’s shed have previously helped with general repairs and minor upgrades for the school, where the government has failed to provide adequate funding and support.
“No one else is going to do it for them,” President of the shed, Richard Milne, said.
Comprised of around 70 members, the Moss Vale branch of the Men’s Shed meet twice a week at the Moss Vale showgrounds to talk to each other and work on various projects. “We get asked to do all sorts of things. We have made swings and gates for people... we do general repairs of anything brought into us. It’s endless.”
But Mr Barnes said the shed is not just a workshop for handymen, it is also a safe space that provides vital emotional peer support for men feeling isolated. “It’s designed for retirees, men who may or may not still have a partner, to come together in a man-only space where they can be themselves. [It provides] stress relief and camaraderie,” he said.