Yea Blitz Build Number 3, Saturday, 27 October 2012
A team of 21 volunteers made up of Arup staff and friends, family and partners traveled to Yea on Saturday, 27 October to help complete four homes currently under construction as part of Habitat for Humanity’s Yea Housing Estate Project, which was established in response to the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria.
This was Arup’s third trip up in over the past five months and our team was able to experience the satisfaction and reward that comes with completing one of the many tasks that previous Arup groups had started… finishing the cladding on one of the four homes.
It was a long day and a lot was achieved. There were plenty of smiles and relief when finally the last cladding plank was nailed in place.
A Great Achievement
After our three trips to Yea we could walk away satisfied with a job completed and a job well done.
In addition to completing the cladding we also managed to help clear up the worksite, tackle some painting, backfill a retaining wall, hang up 27 doors (who was counting?), strip and clean adhesive off some concrete floors, wire-brush a Hebel clad house, and dig a hole then fill it with concrete (what else do you do with a hole?) to install a new letter box.
Morning tea and a BBQ lunch were provided by the team at Habitat for Humanity and much appreciated by a willing team who had worked up a large appetite.
Good company, plenty of banter, lots of laughs, no tears or tantrums, fresh air and sunshine, another successful day out!
We look forward to similar days next year.
Thanks to our Volunteers
Thank you to all our volunteers on the day: Frank Gargano, Peter and Anne Bowtell, John and Sandy King, Angela Williams with son Will, Natasha Randall, Jon Osborne, Will Gouthro, Harriet Priddey, Nick Stone and partner Leo, Rachel Ngu, Mitchell Findlay, Marinna Duffield and friend John Keating, James Danatzis, Alan Morgan and David Perl.
A big thank you to all those others who have attended our previous blitz days (so far we have had 47 individuals help out at Yea – a fantastic result and credit to all involved!)
Thanks also to Samantha Webb, Conor Monaghan and Arup CPP for all their efforts and assistance in the organisation of this day and the previous ones.
It was also very fitting to have our Regional Buildings Group Leader Peter Bowtell attend our last blitz day for the year 2012 along with his wife Anne. Peter has been instrumental in developing and forging Arup’s relationship with Habitat for Humanity and has been involved in the Yea project since its inception back in 2009.
Yea Blitz Build Number 2, Saturday, 8 September 2012
On Saturday, 8 September a team of 14 Arup staff and partners went up to Yea to help complete four houses currently under construction on Habitat for Humanity – Yea Housing Estate Project which was established in response to the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria.
This was the second Arup blitz day held on this site – continuing our involvement with this project which began at inception and planning stages in 2010. This forms part of Arup’s commitment to Habitat for Humanity through our Community Partnering Projects initiative.
The crew travelled up to Yea by bus from the city – enjoying lots of banter and laughs along the way. Upon arrival, we were quickly underway as many of the team had previously worked on the first blitz day back in July and were eager to return and finish off what they had started. We also had some new volunteers who were keen to test and extend their ‘building’ skills.
A lot was achieved on the day … plenty of wall cladding was cut and installed, a sleeper retaining wall infilled, a hole dug with expert precision and geotechnical engineering advice – then subsequently filled with concrete and a letterbox, a clothesline was installed, some general cleaning and tidying up undertaken – as well as the obligatory task of sanding and painting.
Morning tea and a BBQ lunch were provided by the team at Habitat – and gratefully devoured by a hungry team of volunteers who had worked hard for their appetite.
After reluctantly packing up the tools (just one more cladding panel to put up!) it was time to jump back on the bus and return home. Needless to say – the trip back was a little more subdued as the days labour and activities took its toll on the weary!
All in all – it was an enjoyable day out – good company, plenty of hard yakka, fresh air, sunshine – and lots to eat. What more could one ask for?
“Everyone agreed it was a great day, we didn’t finish everything we set out to, but together we achieved a lot and there will always be another chance” – Angela Williams
Thank you to the team at Habitat for providing the opportunity for our crew to be involved – and for the organisation on the day – along with food and drinks.
A big thank you to all our volunteers: Frank Gargano, Alex Chen, John and Sandy King, Natasha Randall, Brendan McNamee, Perry Jackson, Iemke Roos, Simon DeLisle, Nick Stone and Leo, Angela Williams, Jon Osborne. We would also like to thank Samantha Webb and Conor Monaghan for their help with the organization – and Arup CPP for providing the bus.
We are all looking forward to the next Blitz day! Yea(h)!
25 July 2012
Yea Blitz Build Saturday 21st July 2012
On Saturday 21st July 2012 some 29 Arup staff volunteered to go to the Yea Township to assist the Arup community partner Habitat for Humanity on their Yea Heights Estate. This is a development of 25 homes that are being built for families who were affected by the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires. Arup has been involved in this from the beginning contributing to the planning permit, civil and infrastructure design. Being able to come back and actually help build some of the homes on the site we helped bring to life was a great opportunity to showcase our involvement to Arup staff and to bring our involvement full circle on this, Habitat for Humanity’s flagship development.
We left before the light broke and travelled down the Maroondah highway towards Yea and picked up some people on our way.Upon arrival we took a quick cuppa during induction and went to work on our allotted tasks.
We were a little slow to start as we were learning what we had to do but by morning tea we had gained momentum and were a little miffed we had to stop!
It was John King’s birthday and with Lindsey Marsh on hand we had sugar packed cakes to fuel us through to lunchtime.We had a quick rendition of happy birthday and a welcome and background speech from Philip Curtis (Habitat for Humanity CEO).
Our Jobs for the day were to assist with Sisalation, general labour and cladding of houses. We covered two houses in Sisalation, fitted in windows in these also, backfilled retaining walls, secured roof trusses on our 4th house and began cladding on one house.
Not bad for a day’s work but we all wanted to stay there to get more done as by the end of the day we had gotten into a rhythm, but alas it was time to go.
Everyone got a lot out of it and heaped praise on the day. They provided their own testimonials, see below
“It was a great day! Learnt lots, had fun, met people, and worked with ones I don’t get the chance to work with ‘on the job’. Sometimes it felt like I couldn’t contribute much but judging how tired I felt when on the bus ride home I must have done HEAPS! Gave me a great sense of achievement to know that we helped out some deserving families! Will be happy to do it all again.”
Natasha Randall, Infrastructure Group
“Brilliant day thanks Guys. Thought it was an advantage being out of town – made it more of an event. When it came time to pack up I was all for staying to do more (and most others I speak to felt the same)- feel a need to get back and finish cladding panels that we were just getting into the swing of!”
Brendon McNiven – Melbourne Office Leader/ Buildings Group
“Not only was our work helpful, it was a great opportunity to make and strengthen friendships with workmates, do some physical work, and get a bit of vitamin D. It was actually pretty fun. The take home message for me was that we the volunteers got the most benefit out of the day. It gave us the chance to get in touch with the reality of people less fortunate than ourselves (albeit in a small way) but not be saddened by it. We were given the chance to simply help and to enjoy helping, to be uplifted and inspired by it, and by the people around us. To say the least, that was brilliant.
I am certainly keen to go again.”
David Perl – Mechanical Engineer, Buildings Group
“Yes it was an awesome day, but these days don’t happen without a lot of detailed planning, so thank you three for all the effort you put into making the day run smoothly.
I would love to do it all again.”
Angela Williams – Senior Project Manager PPM Group
“An awesome day.
Lots of work ….can prove with a great war wound!
Lots of fun and a great group of volunteers.
Would recommend to others especially younger staff. Might need to lean on them a bit!”
Frank Gargano – Senior Associate – Buildings Group
“It was a fantastic day, I got to know 30 people I didn’t previously know too well, learnt a lot about buildings and felt that I had made some small contribution towards helping rebuild the lives of four families. Not bad for a day’s work!
I’d strongly encourage anyone to take an opportunity like this again.”
Jonathon Osborne – Acoustics Group
All photos © Jon Osborne – For further details please visit
www.jon-osborne.com.
