This week, Benchmark‘s resident Fixpert, Maya Alvarado goes on a search for new Fix Partners. She visits local clubs and businesses in Hungerford, finds out about an excellent use of a Tuk Tuk and considers the best material for a dog friendly boat plank…
06:20: I wake up and get dressed for work. The sky is light and beautiful in colour.
07:30: I arrive at work and begin to plan my day. I have contacted many organisations to find Fix Partners, which has been helpful, but so far has not actually led me to meeting anyone to work with. I decide that it might be best to go out to try to meet people face-to-face. It might be easier to explain more about the project in person. I look at a map I made before starting the residency when I was thinking about where I might find potential Fix Partners. I search a number of clubs and groups that I can visit in Hungerford, and head out.
08:30: I arrive at the local library to visit the arts and crafts group that meet every week. Hungerford Library is under the threat of closure, which would be a huge loss for the local community. I thought that I might be able to do a project here, but speaking with the group it seems that the main focus at the moment in saving the library. There might be space for collaboration sometime in the next few months.
09:15: I stop by the local garage to see if they know anyone (themselves, relatives…) that might be interested in doing a project together. The guys are really interested in the project, but are not able to recommend anyone. Being fixers themselves, anything work related has already been fixed!
09:40: Before I leave I notice a tuk tuk parked in the garage, I hear a wonderful story about Dan’s dad who used to drive this around for weddings and other events to raise money for the local care home. This is a really lovely fundraising method and feels quite random in this setting of the British countryside.
10:00: I pop into almost every venue, shop, church and hall that is open to the public to tell them about Fixperts and the potential for a collaborative project. Along the way I meet lots of people, some friends of Benchmark and finally a Fix Partner at the Red Cross charity shop! The manager Anne is interested in doing a project around the issue of goods coming into the shop. There are currently more donations than space on the shop floor, so many cannot be displayed straight away. This involves a storage period and a process of categorisation. She asks me to come back on Tuesday when more staff are there to spend time looking into the problem.
14:00: I keep visiting places in the hope of finding more Fix Partners. I go to the post office, butchers and bookies. Then I visit three care homes in the surrounding areas of Hungerford town centre. It would be great to collaborate with a carer, to design something that would assist them in their daily work, and benefit the patient that they are caring for too. As I do not have my official Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks yet to prove that I do not have a criminal record, I cannot begin a project with them, so I will go through the local council to discuss getting them done.
16:00: When I get back to Benchmark, I have a walk around the workshop to do some research into shelving in anticipation for the Red Cross project. There are many projects in the workshop at the moment which use different fixings, so I speak to Noel, Nemo and Kenny about which are their favourite. Noel shows me magic wires, which shelves slip on to, and tells me that it is possible to do this with wooden biscuit joints. Nemo likes the fittings that you screw to the wall and then slide your frame onto; this could work nicely to ensure a system is very secure to place donations on. Kenny likes gravity batons which are diagonal bars which you slot something onto, like a hook. I used this to attach the TV to the Fixperts exhibition stand. It does not require permanent fixing and could be good for a system that might need to move around.
16:30: I do some research into the type of wider gangplanks that are on the market. Joe at work has just got a dog that is struggling to walk up the narrow plank to his boat, so I will make him a bigger one. Many on the market are steel; I will test to see which material might be the best option.
17:00: Before I go home, I watch the FixFilm ‘Bespoke Make-up Kit for Doron.’ After an accident in a nightclub, Doron is limited to partial use of her upper body. This makes it difficult for her to go through the routine of applying make-up: holding a small mirror and another product at the same time. Fixperts Meir Kramer and Rotem Nahum designed a beauty kit that has an adjustable mirror and a non-slip lining to hold the products in place whilst she applies make-up. The box contains all the items inside and can sit on Doron’s lap comfortably. This is the first time Doron has put make-up on for herself in eight months!
Further reading for the especially geeky:
- A day in the life of the Benchmark Fixperts Resident – Week 22
- A day in the life of the Benchmark Fixperts Resident – Week 21
- A day in the life of the Benchmark Fixperts Resident – Week 20
- A day in the life of the Benchmark Fixperts Resident – Week 19
