Projects like these help keep participants busy and mentally stimulated, they encourage teamwork and thought processes, thinking about what we want to achieve and how we can achieve it.
By Interchange Australia Marketing Coordinator Kelly Taylor.
Interchange Australia’s Day Options programs are developed around four key components; Life & Learning, Education, Health & Wellness and Socialising & Leisure.
One of these programs ‘Garden Gurus’ is designed to teach participants about sustainable living, and planning menus in ‘Cheftastics’ using what is grown and harvested from the garden in their meals for healthier eating.
Another program taking place this term in the houses is a Recycle/Up-cycle/Restore program as part of ‘Working Wonders’. Participants are scouring marketplace, Resource Recovery Centres and various others outlets where they can source cheap and free items for restoring or up-cycling. Everyone across all of our Day Programs houses are really becoming highly engaged in this program as they enjoy the hands on and creative aspects involved.
This term houses were able to combine a project from ‘Garden Gurus’ with part of their ‘Working Wonders’ program and have utilised items to create garden walls for each of their Day Options houses. They have really enjoyed designing, drilling, sanding, painting and installing these walls for use in ‘Garden Gurus’.
Springett House found an old pallet, which they have taken apart and repurposed using milk cartons to hang from rods on the pallet as planters for strawberries. While at Travis House they managed to pick up a couple of old timber ladders from the Resource Recovery Centre in Moss Vale which they have utilised for their herb wall. Used milk cartons were again utilised as planters for herbs, flowers and strawberries. YUM!
Projects like these help keep participants busy and mentally stimulated, they encourage teamwork and thought processes, thinking about what we want to achieve and how we can achieve it.
In addition to this, participants are also collecting bottles and cans for ‘Return & Earn’ and are using this money to buy things like paint, sand paper, soil and other resources needed.
Stay tuned, as some great little items are almost ready to be placed for sale on Facebook Marketplace in the not too distant future, there might be something of interest to you!
