Whangārei community group which gifts clothing searching for new home

The volunteers at The Clothing Sheds and Book Barn, and Aroha Gardens, want their work to continue with a new site. Photo / Denise Piper

A welcoming Whangārei community group, which gives away free clothing to anyone who needs it, is hoping another organisation will help it out by providing a new home.

The Clothing Sheds and Book Barn, plus community food garden Aroha Gardens, has been running for about seven years on a Kamo Rd property owned by CCS Disability Action Northland.

But with the buildings needing extensive maintenance and flood protection, CCS has decided to put the Whau Valley site on the market, with the aim of putting funds back into its core job of supporting people with disabilities if it sells.

This has left the Clothing Sheds and gardens in need of a new home to run their services, which are accessed by up to 100 people a day, three days a week.

The group was founded by Julie Luiten, who got involved as a community services supervisor when people doing community service hours started maintaining the community gardens.

But this arrangement quickly morphed into donated clothing being sorted on-site and gifted to the community.

Over the years, The Clothing Sheds and Book Barn have grown in strength, and now has 15 to 20 volunteers attending each Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings during opening hours.

Luiten said the group also has an environmental impact, saving six to eight tonnes of clothing from going to landfill each year, along with homeware, books and other goods.

More than half the goods are donated to community groups, especially those in the Far North, and to the Pacific Islands with three to four tonnes of clothing going to the Solomon Islands each year, she said.

The items are also free for everyone who comes to The Clothing Sheds and Book Barn on open mornings, and guests are allowed to take as much as they need as long as they follow the one rule of not on-selling anything, Luiten said.

As well as free items, guests can also get styling advice, kinship, support, or just a hug or smile if needed, she said.

“About 30% of what we do is gifting clothing, 70% is wellbeing of the people here - our clients have various stresses in their lives.”

Over the past year the community gardens have also been gaining momentum, with volunteers growing fresh kai given freely to clients.

Garden volunteer Michelle Jones said the group had been setting out its vision and mission statement, and was still trying to decide if it should set up as an incorporated society or umbrella charity when the sale came up.

While thankful for the partnership and support CCS has offered over the years, the sheds and gardens are now hoping another organisation would be willing to help by providing a new home before the Kamo Rd site sells, Luiten said.

“It’s difficult out there but if we could find somewhere, we could make it work because we have so many people to help.”

If the worse were to happen and the organisation had to close, it’s clear there would be a huge loss, not only to clients but also to all the volunteers.

When the Northern Advocate visited, many volunteers wanted to share their story about how being involved with the caring group has helped them flourish through grief, loneliness or ill health.

The stories, while too numerous to include, are exemplified by one volunteer, Joanne Verryt, who can’t move her left side and uses a wheelchair after having a hemorrhagic stroke in 2019.

She and husband Shane look after the teenage clothing section at the Clothing Sheds, a place where Verryt feels she can be without being judged or spoken down to.

“I feel like I’m very safe here and I’ve made so many friends,” she said.

“It’s great for me to give back. I’m helping the community the only way I know how as I can’t walk and can’t lift things, but this is my community.”

Anyone interested in helping the Clothing Sheds and Book Barns, and Aroha Gardens, with a new home can pop in to 291 Kamo Rd from 9am to 12pm Monday, Wednesday or Friday, or email arohagardens.shareshed@gmail.com.

Denise Piper is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.