A generous donation from the Vita Foundation to Tenterfield Men's Shed goes beyond a one-off supply of water, instead giving Shed members the capacity to deliver water to those in need for years to come.
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The Foundation's provision of not one but two water trailers to the Shed came about through family ties. Karen Edmonson, the daughter of local residents Ted and Pam Hartfield, had a front row seat to the water crisis and then bushfires that have recently plagued the town.
"Karen and I wanted to find a way that we could help the local community," said her husband Paul, who works for the Vita Group.
"We looked at various options to bring water into the community, however wanted to do it in a way that would make a meaningful difference, as supplying bottled water would only serve as a short-term solution.
"Working with Rex and Ruth from the Men's Shed, we submitted a grant application to the Vita Foundation for the sum of $9350 which would enable the Men's Shed to purchase two 1000-litre water trailers."
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The grant application was successful and on Monday Mr Edmonson took great pleasure in handing over the trailers to Rex Holley and the team from the Men's Shed, along with Mayor Peter Petty.
The trailers cost $8550, with the balance of the grant funding going towards registration and insurance costs. In addition to the grant funding, Vita Group also provided a Samsung Tablet and trailer booking application that can be used by the Men's Shed to book and track the trailers' usage.
Mr Holley said one trailer will be used for potable water, with Cr Petty indicating that the Shed will get water carter authorisation allowing it to fill up at council dispensing sites. The other cart will be used for stock water.
Mr Holley said there's a process to go through to get the trailers registered and authorisations in place before the Shed will be fielding requests for assistance. The stock water trailer will be available to borrow, while the potable water trailer will need to be under the control of a Shed member.
The delivery service will be free with users required only to pay any cost for the water, although a donation to the Men's Shed would be appreciated.
Currently stock water through the Apex Park bore is free, while potable water through the Riley St standpipe (for authorised water carriers) is $25 per 1000-litre pod.
Mr Holley said he will let the community know once the water delivery system is in place, but said Mr Edmonson had done a fine job setting up the donated tablet and booking form so the system can be managed efficiently.
