SHARP Site Maintenance Works

A couple of weeks ago a small group of team members were on site to do some maintenance work, and test some theories that will allow us to make decisions going forward.

The work we carried out mostly focused around the two cabins that we are planning to renovate in this year; the information hut and kitchen. We also used some of the time to assess the remaining work required to finish our new toilet block.

On arrival on Thursday afternoon the team assessed the condition of all the cabins, checking for water damage and any other problems. We then made plans for the following days.

On Friday we measured the kitchen, as we would like to add more fridges and regain space to allow the second door to be used as a fire escape route (and for better ventilation). We checked the tables, sink, ovens and fridges/freezers to determine whether they needed a service or replacing. When our final team member arrived we were able to start experiments to see whether we can improve our waste water situation. While Steve and Ray did a bit of work on the toilet block, Ellie and Ann collected samples for analysis, cleared more out of the information, and did some smaller jobs around site.

Saturday was a busy day as the kitchen sink unit was dismantled, cleaned, and then measured for a replacement shelf. While people were busy doing that, Ellie moved one of the plants that was getting too large in the planters. During the day we also met with a flooring contractor to discuss repair of kitchen floor edges and installation of a new info hut floor. After lunch the sink and hot water boiler in the information hut was removed to make way for new improvements to the cabin. In the last half hour before it got dark we removed the leaves off the roofs of various cabins and assessed for damage. We also found some metal steps that could be used to replace the wobbly ones outside finds.

On Sunday we had completed all our planned tasks, so we did more work on the toilet block itself. This involved digging a hole into the natural to place an upright support for the sleepers. While Steve did lots of measuring on site, in preparation for various tasks over the year, we worked out the next moves for attaching the toilet vents. Just before the rain started we headed to our base, and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening noting down all the tasks required and planning for future maintenance sessions.

For years SHARP has been limited by finances and facilities, often replacing with second hand items, cheap materials, or quick repairs. This has resulted in only temporary fixes and ultimately has costed us the long run. However, in the last few years there has been great progress on site and we have made amazing developments, not least in our aims to become sustainable (solar, compostable toilets), and to finally make real long lasting improvements to the site. These maintenance sessions and the forward planning really has made a huge difference to SHARP, as such we would like to thank yet again everyone involved with these sessions and the improvements made!