Field Trip fun ends at Men’s Shed for Urban Seed

MACEDON Ranges youth and Men’s Shed members are banding together for homeless charity.

The Field Trip Cubby House project

MACEDON Ranges youth have played a big role in a state-of-the-art cubby house which is set to go under the hammer.

The project is a collaboration of Lancefield-based youth enterprise The Field Trip, which sought and received sponsorship from Woodend Lions Club and the guidance of Woodend Men’s Shed members during the 12-week project.

Lancefield Field Trip local founder Paul Kooperman said the community development elements of the build would come through when the proceeds from an auction on April 15, directed to homeless charity Urban Seed.

“The group was looking for a recipient and we stumbled across Urban Seed who do some great working supporting youth experiencing homelessness,” he said.

“Given the timing coincides with Youth Homelessness Day and National Youth Week, we thought this was a great project.”

Around five or more Field Trip members have been attending the shed every Wednesday having worked with architect Pete Collings, he said.

The cubby house is vast and features a solar panel, two lights and solar panels.

Lancefield Field Trip director Owen Phillips, 21, said each of the participants involved had grown from seeing the project develop.

Liam from The Field Trip watches John Newell from the Men’s Shed turn a wooden bowl on a lathe. Picture: Dennis Manktelow

“It’s been great to challenge perceptions many young people have about why someone might end up homeless, and show them that it’s often beyond their control,” he said.

“The Field Trip team has been coming up with ways to tackle this huge problem and there is a real desire to help.

“Learning about the men’s shed movement, how it’s been so successful and why it’s needed is also eye-opening.”

Mr Phillips is one of six paid staff at Lancefield who work in an official capacity with the Field Trip.

He first learnt of the group on social media last year before its establishment in Lancefield, adding the philosophy of the group was making big ideas come to reality.

“I would encourage anyone from the age of 10 up to get involved in The Field Trip, it feels like the antidote to a world where there are gatekeepers at every turn trying to limit ambition or saying you have to choose a certain path because ‘that’s the way it’s always been’,” he said.

“It’s really refreshing to see how we can seek out our own path in life.”

Members of the Field Trip are set to begin making podcasts in coming months to be broadcast on community radio stations.

The cubby house is set to be auctioned off at Kilmore’s Hudson Park as part of the Food Truck Festival ‘Where Da Food At’ during National Youth Week.

Details: thefieldtrip.co