Bluedoor duo give back to community

WILLIAM

Every Thursday at the Blue Door in Blenheim, you’ll hear the whirring of power tools and the swapping of banter.

The dismantling crew are hard at work, with volunteers Bruce Scott and John Andrews eager to help.

Community-orientated projects like the Blue Door are gearing up for National Volunteer Week from the 18 to 24 of June. And store bosses hope more Marlburians will spend a few hours throughout June giving back to causes close to home.

All this hard work is incredibly valuable, with the charity giving away more than $25,000 in grants to Marlborough community organisations so far this year.

Bruce and John tinker away at their decommissioned appliances, remove any useful parts to be repurposed in other projects, and sort scrap to be sold.

“We just love being a part of the Blue Door, it’s great companionship, keeps us active and much better than just sitting at home in retirement watching the TV”, says Bruce.

“It’s a great time working alongside each other, there’s plenty of laughs and we keep learn something new”.

There are about 40 volunteers helping behind the scenes at the popular second-hand store.

People help with an array of tasks, doing everything from designing window displays to dismantling appliances for parts and on-selling scrap.

Others check puzzles for missing pieces, research the value of collector items, sort marbles and felt tip pens, and check electrical appliances, working alongside pick up and drop off services.

Bruce is a former maintenance man and truck driver while John has had plenty of careers in the marine industry. Both are proud of their volunteer roles and staunch supporters of the store.

General Manager Bronwyn Demmocks says volunteers are vital.

“Everything we sell back to the public gets sorted by volunteer hands”, she says.

“John and Bruce are amazing – they’ll take apart anything we put in front of them for recycling or scrap, do all of the electrical testing as well as being our smiling collection and delivery guys you’ll see out and about in the ute”.

“All of our volunteers have different reasons to be here, and they see the work they do out in the community through our grants which makes us all feel good”.