Helping people to achieve their potential

A Community Project

Wooden Boat Restoration

The project is to continue over a two year period. This plan is changing as we obtain more information from around Australia, so please accept this is a “plan – in – progress”.

Geraldton Fisherman’s o-operative have kindly donated the boat shown above to Peel Personnel. This boat, the St Gerard was built between 1953 and 1955 by F Coleman and Sons in North Fremantle. One of the sons currently lives in Mandurah and remembers the boat. It was built for an Italian fishing family. The original boat had a mast, along with a mizzen sail and a mainsail.

A Master Shipwright in Geraldton looked at the boat for Peel Personnel to assess how to transport the boat.Once the boat was assessed for transport, the Project Manager Manager from Peel Personnel Inc travelled to Geraldton to brace the boat for the long trip to Mandurah.

A representitive from the Geraldton Maritine Museum has told Peel Personnel Inc, the boat has no commercial value but does have historical worth, being the oldest surviving wooden cray boat in Western Australia.

The boat, the St Gerard, arrived in Mandurah at Peel Personnel’s premises in the afternoon of October 22 2004.

If Peel Personnel does not restore the cray boat it is going to be destroyed. We cannot let this historically significant boat disappear forever

Objectives of project:

1. To integrate people with disabilities into the wider community by having them participate in valued projects alongside other community members.

2. To help give youth at risk a sense of purpose and direction and increase their confidence and self esteem.

3. To give long term unemployed people the opportunity to achieve and succeed at something, learn new skills, and increase their confidence and self esteem.

4. To involve the community by having volunteers also work on the project.

5. To give seniors in the community an opportunity to work alongside the other participants in the project and to allow them to use their experience and maturity to assist in mentoring the younger people on the project.

6. To assist in developing the social skills of some of the participants who have not had the opportunity to do so before.

7. To involve school children in the documentation of the project and help develop their sense of community.

Groups to be involved in the project:

• People with disabilities

• Youth at risk

• Long term unemployed

• Seniors

• High schools

• Primary schools

• Historical society

• Local business

• Rotary clubs

Location of the project:

Peel Personnel Inc. has recently purchased adjacent premises to its property at 26 Quarry Way, Mandurah, Western Australia

Proposed Community Involvement and funding sources:

• Enlist support of the local Rotary Clubs

• Enlist support of other agencies dealing with youth and long term unemployed

• Seek sponsorship from local business

• Lotteries west grants

• Peel Development Commission support

• Volunteers from the community

• Peel region Police Service personnel