Wooden it be lovely

IN October last year the Ballarat Woodworkers’ Guild members started making wooden toys.

Last week they presented 800 beautifully crafted items to the 3BA Christmas Appeal.

Students from Ballarat’s St Patricks College and Loreto College worked alongside the Guild, helping assemble, paint and put the finishing touches to the likes of wheel barrows, cradles, and doll houses.

3BA Christmas Appeal ambassador Peter Caligari thanked the Guild for its 22 years of support as well as the four agencies responsible for the distribution to the community – The Salvation Army, St Vincent de Paul, Uniting Ballarat and Anglicare.

“Once again children in Ballarat will get a visit from Santa,” he said.

St Vincent de Paul’s president Alan West added, “What you do is just tops.”

“If you could see the looks on the faces of the kids when they get these toys it is something to behold. It gives us such pleasure to be able to take them around.”

There was a palpable feeling of joy at the Guild’s club rooms while Anglicare’s community development manager Bridgette Clarke shared her story of helping a Ballarat woman create a special last-minute Christmas for her granddaughter, with the assistance of the donations to the 3BA Christmas Appeal.

“This town knows how to look after those in need, it takes a village to raise a child and I think my story of that grandmother demonstrates it beautifully,” she said.