March 21st 2019

Every day there is something new appearing - and today it is our ' Mary Poppins' bread stand ( as christened by Gail)  made for us so that we can display the fresh food we get given without takin gup too much space in the archway

And also

The cross was donated to us by the Give Way to Jesus Cross Walk a while ago and we have been waiting for the garden area to be cleared so that we could put it up in pride of place, as a reminder to us all of what is, and has always been, at the very centre of Via Wings work.    The bench is dedicated to the memory of Mary Verhoeven, an inspirational lady who is missed every day and who would have loved what we are doing here at Wellington House.

Update

It has been a while since we updated the blog because things have been busy here at Via Wings as we do what we do best - work with people to help them out of poverty and isolation and difficulty.   But the work on the building has not stopped.  There has be a lot going on.

We have turned what used to be an outside storage space into a wee shop where we can put our bread and cakes and fresh fruit and veg to keep it tidy and secure and give people a bit of privacy when they are deciding what to take home.   We have also been able to put a chiller cabinet there to display the chilled goods.  It is looking great. 

Then this week we have had the digger in to level the garden and sort out a damp problem which had been caused by too much soil against the wall of the Dare2Care center.   It is now looking a little bit more like the garden we envisage.  We are going to be creating a work of art on the bare back wall and then hope to have a sensory, child friendly garden where customers from the coffee shop will be able to relax in the tropical Northern Irish summer  😎

Monday Jan 7th 2019

A New Year a New Space Coming To Life

Today the painters have been in to the room which used to be the bar of the pub and is very very soon going to be our new shop!  It's amazing what a coat of white paint can do  ( although it is also amazing just how much hard work it takes to get a coat of white paint onto bare breeze blocks).  The ceiling has had a coat of grey, as has the back wall.  A bit more work to do yet, but we are making good progress.  Watch this space - we are hoping that the shop will be open again by the end of the month  😃👍

Friday December 14th - doors!

All the doors are on,  all the handles are on, all the locks are working.  We are so happy.

 


In other news we had to have a new roof on the kitchen of what is going to be the cafe - because we had sprung a leak.   So we now have the remains of a roof sitting in the garden.  Anyone have a big trailer they could lend us for a couple of hours??

Friday 7th December

After weeks of waiting ( we won't mention the wrong measurements holding up the process !) we at last have some door actually attached to doorframes in our offices.   The first ones to go on have been in the counselling room which means we can now have some privacy to talk to people about sensitive matters.  You really notice how easily sound travels when you have no doors on anywhere.

Im happy to report that no mess was made in this process.  None at all.  Not even a shaving or a mite of sawdust  😉

Thursday 29th November

Most of what we have been doing in the building this week is top secret Santa stuff.  But the thing we can show you today is that our staff kitchen now has lovely cupboards.  And the pipes are getting boxed in in the staff loo.   But you probably don,t need to see those pics  LOL

We really do hope you manage to pop down and visit us on Saturday evening so that we can show off our handiwork and celebrate with the whole town what we have achieved here over the past three months.  It is a miracle.

Thursday 22nd Nov

Fire alarms and smoke detectors - not the most glamorous or exciting of installations - and certainly the noisiest by FAR - but necessary and therefore we grin and bear it through the interminable drilling and look forward to being safe from even a whiff of smoke or a birthday cake candle flame!!  We also now have emergency lighting and exit signs.  And the conference room has new lights too! 

                                                           

Our other work this week is highly top secret and cannot be revealed just now.  Suffice it to say that the elves are very busy preparing for our Christmas Fair on 1st Dec!!