This week, Benchmark‘s resident Fixpert, Maya Alvarado visits Fix Partner Anne at the Red Cross Charity Shop, seeks out potential fixes and makes paddle prototypes for canoe trip with Heidi…
07:30: I wake up and get ready to go and meet my new Fix Partner Anne who manages the Red Cross Charity Shop in Hungerford.
09:00: I arrive at the shop as it opens and it is already filling up with locals. Anne gives me a tour of the shop floor, storage rooms and cellar. The shop is quite small and can only display a tiny fraction of the donations received weekly, the rest is stored and is used to replenish the shop floor as space is freed. This means that the storage areas are very full and must be kept very organised. There is a brilliant system in place that Anne and co-workers have developed over the past five years. Next season’s clothes are already washed, bagged and ready to be used.
09:30: Anne tells me about the storage solutions already in place, but also of the limitations they have. The kitchen area is used mostly to wash bric-a-brac to be sold. They have some lost space above the sink where cupboards could hold items, so this may be an area to look into.
10:00: I map out all of the storage compartments around the store and cellar. It is amazing that they have such dedicated categories always with stock – ‘Mother’s Day’ and ‘teacher’s gifts’ being just a few. I discuss with Anne the potential to structure contained housing for each of these, but this could be limiting to the irregular items they often receive. I go through all spaces and seek out opportunities for improvement ready to run through with Anne.
11:00: The categories are very clear to those who created them, but perhaps not for other volunteers who work less regularly. I suggest a communication system for the downstairs cellar, perhaps in the form of a notice board for staff to share information with one another. There is also some space under the stairs where narrow shelves could be placed to hold tapes and DVDs, this would help to free much needed floor space. Anne thinks this could be useful, so we will go ahead with this fix.
11:15: Upstairs I see the side storeroom that has an old shelving system that was build in 1991. It is no longer sufficient to hold the amount of stock they are receiving, so Anne must string up bags to keep them in place. This is not very safe, and can easily come undone and fall. A door with a lock could secure these back, and a few more shelves on the other side would provide more storage. I try to figure out where the bags would be taken from first, and how they build up in numbers. This will determine the best solution.
11:30: I am really surprised to learn that Anne takes home the clothes to wash and dry them, before they are sold. This is an awful lot of work, transportation and washing. The shop will soon be getting a washing machine to do this on site, so it will need a suitable drying area. Today has been a real eye-opener into all of the work that goes on behind the scenes of a charity shop. It is not just a building that receives stock and sells it; it is also a processing centre, a micro recycling plant, a library and a launderette! Taking all of this into consideration, there is a great opportunity to create some solutions that enable spaces to store more and to become ready for dual functions.
13:00: Back at work, Jo has made some of her beautiful salads – they are so fresh and tasty on what feels like a spring day.
13:30: In preparation for the canoe day trip with Heidi and the guys from the workshop, I make some paddle prototypes, which we can take along on the day and alter as necessary. These first versions are intended to be strapped to Heidi’s arm and be used in one stroke.
13:45: I use 12 millimetre plywood board to make the shapes. These have a semi-circle cut out at the end to sit comfortably around the inside of the elbow. I use a drill and a jigsaw to cut out holes for Velcro straps to sit. One version has a small paddle head and a longer arm to ensure that the paddle reaches the water, another has a longer paddle head which should hopefully move more water and the third has a large paddle head also and a cut out handle for Heidi to grip and place backwards pressure on to the paddle board.
14:30: After speaking with Kevin about an idea to screw on a loop handle, I also consider vertical handles, which Heidi could grasp and direct the paddle with. We have the opportunity to screw on and test different handles with these prototypes on the day. Kevin also says that he will bring along his cordless jigsaw so we can create new versions on site if needed.
15:00: I show all of the prototypes to Colin to get his ideas and feedback, and he has a really good idea of a paddle which would be joined at either two or three points, with the paddle handle set back a bit to create a shorter leverage.
15:10: I use dowels cut at 45-degree angles (attached super quickly with a staple gun) and cardboard forms secured with masking tape to test the concept. I imagine that these will be used with rowlocks to keep the direction in place, but there will need to be a system in place to allow water to escape from the forward paddle direction – perhaps a hinge. This type of paddle will take the pressure and weight off Heidi’s arm, but the hinging mechanism would be one-sided, unless two opposite paddle designs were incorporated. This could be a bit like a pedalo functioning evenly on both sides.
15:30: Meanwhile Mike, Kevin and Ross are making the parts to turn two canoes into a catamaran. They are bending threaded rod into ‘U’ shapes and will then use these to secure the plywood lengths across each canoe.
15:45: Mike prepared these plywood lengths last night using a router. I text Heidi’s mum to check if everything is still good for our trip next week. They are both very excited – and clearly so are the guys in the workshop!
16:00: I watch the Fix Film ‘Jacob’s Grip Friendly Hammer’ about an 82 year old carpenter who lost three fingers while working. He struggled to use a hammer as there is typically not enough friction around the handle, and its shape is circular, where his fingers naturally ‘create an elliptic shape instead of a round one.’ Fixperts Emily Chen-Morris and Koby Begerano designed a wooden hammer with a high holding area and a work glove to assist with grip. Jacob is now able to hammer nails with ease.
16:30: On my way home I attend the West Berkshire ‘Save Our Services’ protest outside Newbury Library and the West Berkshire Council offices. There is a really good turn-out of adults, schoolchildren and local committee members, including Penny Locke from the Penny Post and lots of people who are passionate about keeping the local libraries.
Further reading for the especially geeky: