25-04-2023
Tools for Self Reliance
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Our social secretary Tony Crane, organised a trip to visit Tools for Self Reliance in Netley Marsh. 12 of us set off early and enjoyed a pub lunch at the White Horse just up the road. By the time we had calculated how much we all had to pay for our meal and drinks it was almost time to meet the rest of the group who had travelled later and gone straight to the headquarters.
Tools for Self Reliance are a registered charity and company and are registered with the Fundraising Regulator. Established in 1980 they own and occupy a large site with several outbuildings which they let out. This generates a useful but much needed income. With a full time staff of approximately 8 they have almost 200 local volunteers constantly refurbishing tools and making packing cases from donated wood.
Shipping containers when fully loaded are shipped to either Ghana, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Uganda or Zambia. Recently their volunteers have been busy packing a tool shipment to Ghana. This included 110 tool kits and 63 sewing machines (the old type that Grannie use to have!). These items will help support their training projects in carpentry, construction, motor bike mechanics, appliance repair and tailoring.
But that is not the end of it!
Tools for Self Reliance work hard with their partners in each country to gain equality for women. Generally women are excluded from applying for any trades other than tailoring, with child care and meal provisions being difficult issues (that last little bit must ring true with many women in this country). Governments are now, in some of the countries, starting to acknowledge women's rights and are insisting that at least 30% of all jobs must be reserved for women. Still not brilliant but a step in the right direction!
Back to our visit. We were welcomed by the manager Katie and her team with tea, coffee and biscuits. As there were 16 of us we were split us into two groups of 8. One group sat and listened to a very interesting Power Point presentation while the other group were shown around the stores and workshops then we changed round.
All we can say is that it is very well organised with strict disciplines and procedures with a mass of tools of all descriptions. In fact we were told that they hold about 2 years stock on the shelf all the time and that is a lot of equipment! We showed our appreciation by making a very reasonable donation from all of those attending.
We took a few photos and said our goodbyes and came away very impressed with the whole operation
From back in 2017 we have made a few donations of tools via a local TSR member in Portchester but will now make more of an effort to donate on a more regular basis.
Author: Chris Hodgson