Woodside Logistics at Meerilinga (Woodvale)

The team at Meerilinga’s Woodvale centre heard that there were Woodside tribes eager to lend a helping hand to their community. Naturally, they were excited, and so they wasted no time and seized the opportunity to have the Woodside Logistics Team visit their centre for a busy bee volunteering day. The staff and children of the Meerilinga Woodvale centre had a long yet achievable wish-list ready for the team to tackle - and of course the team was eager to help!

Upon arrival the team received a jovial welcome from Pat Hope, the senior manager at Meerilinga, who briefed the volunteers and informed them of their tasks. The team organised themselves into groups, each working on different parts of the centre at the same time. One squad focused on relocating a raised garden bed, which required the bed to be emptied and then refilled once it had been relocated - tough work, I assure you. The same group then created a 'yarning circle' of tree logs, shifted a clothes line and moved a fridge-turned-worm farm and covered it with twig fencing.

Others focused on the side of the centre, for which the children had requested a reading and play area to be created. The group removed the waste and rubbish, put in fresh paving, threw in some new plants and installed a bench – finishing ahead of schedule, this tenacious troop then moved onto weeding and cleaning the outside of the centre.

Other tasks accomplished on the day were: oiling wooden decking near the playground; trimming overhanging Bottlebrush trees and bushes outside the centre; washing all the centre's chairs; and finally, putting new plants in the planter box at the entrance of the centre - all serving to warm Meerilinga's entrance up and give it a welcoming, neat and tidy look.

“I loved the team building, problem solving, us all working together, the sense of achievement, giving back and the contribution to the community” - Woodside Volunteer

The day ended with the children and volunteers getting together to celebrate and engage in the new space by establishing new plants in the new and improved garden bed. The children yelled out a big thank you to the team and really enjoyed watching the Team in Red transform their playground.

“Making a great environment for the children” - Woodside Volunteer

To see more of the team in action click here!