Amenities upgrade 40 years in the making unveiled at RDA

By Max Stainkamph

Apr 21, 2021

As the dust and wind rolled in, Riding for the Disabled Australia Shepparton branch founder and life member Yvonne Donnan rolled up and took down the ribbon to officially open the new amenities block.

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For the past 43 years, she — and everyone else involved at the RDA, either as volunteers or as riders — had been forced to use the bathrooms in an old tin shed on the Wanganui Rd site.

As of Tuesday, April 20, the days of the old bathrooms were gone, as the new amenities shed, featuring a disabled toilet, was officially opened.

RDA Shepparton branch treasurer Keren Fletcher said it would be a farewell to the summer months of finding frogs in the ladies’ toilet and, more importantly, would make the bathrooms more accessible.

She said it was "wonderful" to have the new facilities opened on a day that also marked the club resuming operations for the first time since the pandemic began.

“With the old block, we didn't have any disabled facilities, it was too narrow for a wheelchair,” Mrs Fletcher said.

“For someone in a wheelchair you almost needed two people to get them in and turn them around for the toilet."

The $15,000 shed was funded by Lodge Eshcol's applications to Masonic Lodge's charitable arms, and was constructed largely by Tallygaroopna Men's Shed members.

“The whole community support we get from this area is amazing,” Mrs Fletcher said.

The building from Tallygaroopna Men's Shed was overseen by Don Baldwyn and largely put together by Frank Steen.

Mr Steen said the amenities block had been "my project for two-and-a-half to three years".

He said most days of building involved up to four men's shed members on the tools, and the men's shed had help from builder John Bush, plumber Adrian Law, Norvec Electrical's Jamie Fawcett and Admoor Plumbing's Mark Bollard, who helped put the roof on.