Malvern Hills Tools for Self Reliance
By Martin Blamire
Imagine for a moment what it feels like to be a carpenter, tailor or mechanic in a developing country in Africa. You struggle to feed your family and are frustrated by the poor quality tools on sale in your local market. Imagine what a difference it makes to use a set of good quality tools which you could never normally dream of owning.
There is a way for you to help solve this problem and it won’t cost you a penny!
We all have old tools in our sheds, garages and lofts - broken, rusting or just no longer needed. Maybe they belonged to parents or grandparents and have huge sentimental value and you don’t just want to sell them or throw them away.
Malvern Hills Tools For Self Reliance is a newly formed group of volunteers who meet once a week and refurbish tools of all sorts to a good, working standard. These are then sent to six countries in Africa via our parent charity in Southampton. We accept all sorts of tools - for carpentry, car mechanics, tailoring, gardening and building, as well as power tools and sewing machines.
We are affiliated to Tools For Self Reliance, a charity which was established in 1979 and works with local groups in Tanzania, Malawi, Uganda, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Zambia. They have a very interesting and informative website (www.tfsr.org) where you can see how the refurbished tools are used in Africa.
Please contact me on (01684) 540491 if you have tools to donate or if you would like to join our group and donate your time and skills to help others. We meet every Wednesday.