The Sewing Place

Tools for Solidarity

wrenkins

Tools for Solidarity
« on: February 06, 2019, 08:20:48 AM »
I recently tampered with (broke) my very old Singer and as we are limited to one SM shop in the whole of the Province since the Singer man retired, I went looking for support elsewhere and found these people.
I thought they only dealt with sewing machines but it seems they do all sorts of tools and equipment. Had I not been able to reassemble my stupidity they would have mended my machine for a donation to the charity.
The chap I emailed was lovely and even offered to come and collect my machine!  :o
I've had a look around their website here and they do good work. If anyone has any old unused machines that need a new forever home, there might be similar charities near you.
Check it out. They would be glad of your machines, your money or, better still, your time.  <3

Harbouring resentment is like swallowing poison and waiting for the other person to die!

Ploshkin

Re: Tools for Solidarity
« Reply #1 on: February 06, 2019, 11:43:34 AM »
It appears from the website that they are in Ireland only.  There is a very similar group called Tools for Self Reliance that operates in Wales and nearby.
Life's too short for ironing.

wrenkins

Re: Tools for Solidarity
« Reply #2 on: February 06, 2019, 11:47:22 AM »
Yes @Ploshkin they seem to be an offshoot of something that originated in Southampton. There are loads of these wee places about I suppose.  :)
Harbouring resentment is like swallowing poison and waiting for the other person to die!

So Chic

Re: Tools for Solidarity
« Reply #3 on: February 06, 2019, 12:30:32 PM »
I donated a couple of very old machines for which I didn't have room to a local charity and when they were collected, the man said they would refurbish before sending the machines to Africa.
So Chic
Bernina Artista 630, Bernina 800DL, Janome Cover Pro 1000CP and an elderly Singer Touch & Sew 720G as a back up

Manuela

Re: Tools for Solidarity
« Reply #4 on: February 09, 2019, 00:41:45 AM »
I went a couple of times to the Tools for Self Reliance workshop in Bristol, they are located in the Kingswood museum in Coalpit Heath. The are not only interested in machines, but also any tools that might be useful. They sourced a Featherweight 211K and a Singer 338K for me - reasonably priced and the money went into their charity. They also sorted out my father-in-laws garage and took the tools and machinery (he’s a former mechanical engineer) for the charity. Wonderful people who do great work.
« Last Edit: February 10, 2019, 23:39:00 PM by Manuela »

wrenkins

Re: Tools for Solidarity
« Reply #5 on: February 09, 2019, 07:03:35 AM »
It's a small world.

I was showing 'him indoors' the TFS website last night and I noticed that one of the people thanked in the annual report was my old maths teacher. He has an unusual name so there's only one of him. We called him Herbie but I have no idea why! 0_0 I Googled him, like you do, to see what his connection might be to the charity, only to find his obit.  :( He died on Christmas Eve and his funeral took place in the church where my mum and dad were married.

RIP "Herbie"
Harbouring resentment is like swallowing poison and waiting for the other person to die!

wrenkins

Re: Tools for Solidarity
« Reply #6 on: February 09, 2019, 07:06:24 AM »
Yes @Manuela they take all sorts of tools it seems. Electricity isn't always to be relied upon so hand tools would be a valued commodity.
Funny that you should mention Mr M's dad's garage, I thought the same thing for my own dad's garage. What an Aladdin's cave!
Harbouring resentment is like swallowing poison and waiting for the other person to die!

LeilaMay

Re: Tools for Solidarity
« Reply #7 on: February 10, 2019, 17:06:12 PM »
Duh, just see this is already been mentioned . . .  sorry   :|


Can I just say there is a mainland based charity, very similar in aims it seems - called Tools For Self-Reliance.
It was from their (old version) website that I first learnt how to service and repair maul machines.

Super ideas, wherever you're based  :)

https://www.tfsr.org/

WildAtlanticWay

Re: Tools for Solidarity
« Reply #8 on: May 10, 2019, 09:45:04 AM »
For anyone browsing this topic, here’s a clip from the BBC programme about the Singer sewing machine factory and the charity that repairs the old sewing machines and sends them out to Africa to help poor street children have a better chance of escaping a life of extreme poverty and degradation.


https://mobile.twitter.com/i/web/status/1126404991915319296