Community support for Free 3D Hands

Local residents and visitors at the Free 3D Hands open day over the weekend were welcomed by founder Mat Bowtell and his team.

During the open day, the public were able to inspect the new design centre, enjoy a free sausage sizzle and were entertained by live music. 

There was also an Ocean Reach Brewery beer pavilion, selling a Bionic IPA beer, with 100 per cent of profits from the beer going to Free 3D Hands.

“Yesterday was such a fantastic day, we really enjoyed it,” said Free 3D Hands Operations Manager Peta Strachan.

“We estimate (based on sausage consumption!) we had around 300 people come through. There was so much genuine interest from the community and many people had travelled from Melbourne including some of Mat’s ex-Toyota colleagues!

“We want to thank Ocean Reach Brewing for their incredible generosity in brewing Bionic as a charity beer and for the months of work to prepare for the event,” said Peta.

“The whole team volunteered their time on the day and thanks to their efforts everything ran smoothly. We sold out of all the beer on the day and had a great laugh when the last four-pack was ‘auctioned’ for $120!

“The good news is Bionic will be available from the Cowes and San Remo IGA for anyone who missed out.”

The barbeque also ran like clockwork, thanks to the dedicated work of Rotary Club volunteers Bill Young and Graeme Turner.

“Thank you to our local Rotary Club for the free use of their BBQ trailer, ROBART, which includes gas, condiments and everything required to host a successful sausage sizzle,” Peta said.

“A special thanks to Bill and Graeme who came to help set up and ended up staying for the entire day.

“They went above and beyond and truly embody what it means to be of service to the community in which they live. They also know how to cook a sausage or two!”

The barbeque food and drinks were supplied by Cowes IGA and San Remo Butcher.

“We have always had fantastic support from Phil and Konney at the Cowes IGA and they stepped up to the plate again by providing us with free soft drinks and bread at cost price.

“They also have one of our Donation Tap terminals at their main checkout which we are very grateful for.

“A big thank you to Des who took time out of his only day off to do an emergency delivery from Cowes when we started to run out of sausages!”

Local musician Nic Huigs provided entertainment on the day.

“Thanks to the talented Nick Huigs who was a last-minute stand in and treated everyone to some fantastic live music,” Peta said.

“It was great to see what our young local musicians have to offer and Nick’s music was a perfect soundtrack to the day.

“Finally, we wanted to thank the local community for their unending support of Free 3D Hands and continuing to help us grow.

“Time and again we are blown away by the generous spirit of so many people who not only support us with donations but who believe in what we do and continue to spread the word.

“We wanted to let everyone know that this support helps motivate us to keep innovating and freely sharing designs to help the millions of people globally who cannot access or afford assistive devices.”

Peta said Free 3D hands encouraged everyone to support the local businesses who have supported the charity.

“They ask nothing in return for their generosity and help only out of genuine kindness and a willingness to get behind a worthy cause.

“Thank you Phillip Island community, we appreciate you.”

Support

If you missed the open day, you can still support Free 3D Hands.

Cowes and San Remo IGA now have an allocation of Ocean Reach’s Bionic for sale, and it is also available on tap from the Ocean Reach taphouse in Cowes.

The taphouse also has a limited amount of packaged cans, and it is also available via Ocean Reach’s online store and at good independent bottle shops in Victoria and NSW.

At the new Free 3D Hands centre, work continues producing assistive devices on 3D printers, and the team is currently focused on creating a bionic arm, made from less than $100 in materials.

Normally a bionic device would cost around $60,000.

The new centre on Boys Home Road in Newhaven was bought by an anonymous local resident, who has leased it to the non-profit Free 3D Hands for free.

You can donate to Free 3D Hands via their website: free3dhands.org.

More photos at pisra.com.au.