Trugs getting ready for sale

First lots of papering

Then painting

NEWS!

1. PFSE will have a stand at local fetes - busy preparing and hoping to find more Volunteers.

We have been having trug-making days

Getting started (Jean chatting with Margaret Stratton who is going to Kalene, Zambia)

The trugs taking shape

2. The first Trip with Paper Furniture Social Enterprise Volunteers is being planned.

The Tiwi Group of people with Disabilities in Kenya are helping children with disabilities! They organise meetings and an Occupational Therapist travels to help the children. Now the Tiwi group will learn to make equipment so that the children can have good support sitting and doing everyday tasks at home. Jean, Libby and Margaret are preparing to run a course in making APT chairs and other useful items with the group

Tiwi group leaders and community leader representative at meeting to discuss this last year

3. Paper Furniture Social Enterprise is going to rent a workshop space from Ian McNeill Horse Supplies in Medstead

Work has started to clean and paint the workshop!

Kennett and Libby in full swing. Lots of cleaning done by Jane, Sue and Margaret

First order for Paper Furniture Social Enterprise

The work of Charity Treasurers can be wide and varied. Beatrice, the Treasurer for Cerebral Palsy Africa, set our new Paper Furniture Social Enterprise (PFSE) group into action.

She gave us our first order - steps to help her reach the high shelves.

The steps made with stripes being organised.

Margaret was visiting from Uganda and liked the Paper Furniture items very much.

She is field-testing the steps.

From Beatrice:

Just to report that the steps arrived this morning and the green stripes look fine. It fits exactly where I wanted it.

Just to add to the description of the steps. The design is really thought through. I have used the steps today several times and I like that it has this "grip" under the top step, so it is easy to grab and shift around.

Paper Furniture Social Enterprise starting production

The first course!

Sue and Libby setting up the pieces of the chairs they have designed

Sue's throne chair being modelled - the measurements were good!

We had two Taster sessions and more volunteers visited

Many thanks to Jardinique in Beech who donated the use of a room

in their beautiful Hampshire barn

Paper Furniture courses starting in Hampshire UK

Paper Furniture Social Enterprise

The first small training course for Volunteers is from 23-25th February.

The Diocese of Ndola CBR Staff 2009 showing the different chairs they have learnt to make

Visitors Welcome

Drop in and see/experience the work in action!

There will be 2 Taster sessions.

Come any time between 2-5pm or 7.30 - 9.30 pm on Wednesday 24th Feb 2010.

Please send a message for directions

Wukwahi wa Nzambi making chairs - ZAMBIA

See the cute chairs made by the Wukwashi Volunteers for children with disabilities.

An order through Naomie Silavwe, the physiotherapist at the Company Clinic in Kitwe.

Emmanuel and Patrick overseeing safe delivery

A New Green Social Enterprise - calling all interested parties!

• How about a new volunteer challenge for the New Year?


• Want to be in at the start of a really new and different project?


• Would you like to meet creative and enterprising new people locally?


• Have you got skills and a little spare time to share?


• Want some fun doing something practical, exciting and very GREEN?


• And all of this in a really great cause too!.....
  
  Join Paper Furniture Enterprises - A not-for-profit social enterprise!

Our aim is to set up a new social enterprise making furniture from recycled paper and card developing the work of Jean and Kennett Westmacott. They have been using paper furniture techniques, developed in Zimbabwe, by Bevill Packer and Timothy Gono to make specially adapted chairs, standing frames, ride-on animals and wheel chair inserts for severely disabled children in various parts of Africa - see http://www.peoplepotential.org.uk/ and http://www.cerebralpalsyafrica.org/

We want to see if we can learn the lessons of running a small social business first hand to help fund more workshops in Africa and India as well as the production of instruction manuals. We will do this by setting up Paper Furniture Enterprises (PFE) – a mini 'factory' to pilot larger scale production of customized paper furniture. We aim to record the pilot process as we go, learning by doing, so we can pass on our expertise and create a model for sustainable income generation for disability projects across the developing world.

Open Day - Monday 18th January

Plum Cottage, Hattingley Rd, Medstead, GU34 5NQ

Drop in anytime from 10am to 5pm - refreshments will be provided.

You are warmly invited to come and see photographs of Jean and Kennett's work in Africa, to have a chat about getting involved in this new social enterprise and to wish Happy 20th Birthday to the paper furniture sofa!

You can try it out too!

PFE want to build on Jean and Kennett's work to help the projects they have been working with become more self sufficient in their funding so that they can continue to provide the support and equipment these children so desperately need - see www.cerebralpalsyafrica.org. Jean is creating a manual of the construction techniques and we would like to add a 'how to' guide to income generation and running a small business from our experiences at the Medstead 'factory'. We want to involve as many local people and partners as we can. We are especially keen to work with young people in the village and local community. So please spread the word, pass on contacts of anyone who might be interested and get involved yourself!



Call Libby Brayshaw on 01420 562227 to register your interest and to ask any questions.

We look forward to hearing from you!