As President Cyril Ramaphosa announces the closure of all schools until after the Easter Weekend, parents are concerned about how they will manage to keep their kids entertained (other than Netflix or browsing the Internet!) without having to physically leave the house.
Fear not! We have compiled a list of things you may find helpful to ease the boredom and keep the children (and even yourself) busy until the Coronavirus panic dies down.
At WID, we’re a family. We support and challenge one another to do the best work possible. We are united by a love of Woodstock and the community. We believe in giving our all and working hard – but we also believe in having some serious fun!
Last week we decided that it was time to explore our playful side again. The entire WID team, along with our service providers, Essential Cleaning and Securitas, participated in a few team building activities to build some bridges and strengthen relationships. The activities were put together by Team Building Activities and Events to facilitate a day of bonding and raising team spirit.
Our administrator Nicola Welby-Solomons was pleasantly surprised by the commitment demonstrated from everyone involved. “I am very proud to say that we certainly have an amazing group of people working to keep Woodstock great. They are not only dedicated but I never knew they were so competitive!” she said, laughing. “It was really great to see all the different sides to our colleagues.”
The team was divided into four groups and participated in cooperation and outcome-based exercises to achieve a shared goal. Unsurprisingly, as the day wore on, many participants realised the importance of a supportive team to meet goals.
Officer Ndlovu, “Foot Papa” at the WID (Securitas), was humbled by a seemingly simple activity. “When we played memory lane, I was motivating my whole team and showed them where all the blocks were to get to the other side, but when I was alone I had to remember all the blocks on my own, and that made me realise why I need a team.”
After this, there were also a few heated rounds of “minute to win it” activities. These mildly ridiculous exercises saw individual team members threading raw pasta onto a kebab stick in under a minute – using only their mouths!
Despite the silliness of some games, participants showed resilience and enthusiasm at every turn – there was certainly no letting up from any of the teams. After all of that activity, the team was looking forward to a hearty meal, and were not disappointed. Oor die Kole Spit Braai and Catering did a magnificent job. Their lunch was delicious and the service splendid.
It was a wonderful experience for the teams, and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Officer Poni, the Supervisor for Securitas at WID, went so far as to say that it was by far the best function that we have had. The feedback from the Law Enforcement Team can be summed up in the words of Officer Gaidien; “I just want to say thank you for an amazing day with you WID, Securitas and Essential. You guys are awesome.”
In keeping with the spirit of the event, we want to thank all of those who made this amazing day possible. A special thank you to the Board of Directors and management for providing us with this opportunity to get to know each other outside the usual working environments.
Thank you to Woodstock Community Church for providing us with a venue for free, it met our needs exactly. Thanks also to Team Building Activities and Events for hosting an amazing day of activity, we truly appreciated your commitment to facilitating an atmosphere of fun and making sure that nobody felt left out.
Finally, we would like to thank each and every WID team member who attended. We are so proud to have you as part of the team and look forward to many more years of serving together.
Tammi Glick, Daleglen Property Group Director, firmly believes in the importance of creative play in the small business sector. She says, “The theme here is play; at Mason’s Press we believe that adults lose something critical when they stop playing.”
Mason’s Press, established in March 2015, falls under the management of Daleglen Property Group and has become a creative hub – a space for ideas – with a wide variety of businesses offering products, services and some even coffee. Simply put, it’s a renovated industrial building with spaces that small businesses can rent.
Mason’s Press is comprised of individual units rented by businesses as office, retail, or café spaces, and communal areas. Connecting these are beautiful walkways, installations, outside spaces, and the cherry on top – an adult playground! This is the quirkiest thing about this playful conglomerate; Mason’s Press encourages a place to explore and innovate.
Mason’s Press is also proud to commission local artists, such as Basil Baxter and Ricky Lee Gordon, to create art for its walls. For example, Michael Chandler who designed the exterior of the sister building in the Woodland House complex, Maker’s Space. His vision was to prevent the building from looking out of place, and integrated it as part of the street experience that people would take time to enjoy.
We are proud to have this creative hub as an integral part of our community. No doubt we’ll see more developments like this in the future fostering and normalising the idea of play for adults. After all, play is the highest form of research according to Albert Einstein, and where better to play than our own backyard – Woodstock.
Next time you’re in the area, pop into see this mixture of offices and working studios. This isn’t a major retail environment so don’t expect to shop up a storm; but you’ll find some gems and you can grab a bite to eat at The Mill & Press, Baseline Coffee or have a drink at The Mash Tun.
Address: 7 Ravenscraig Road, Woodstock, 7925
Contact: 021 424 1210
Website: https://www.facebook.com/masonspress
