Jack’s Journey is definitely growing. Physically. I can tell. I have absolutely no space left in my garage!
If someone had told me how much physical space running a new charity would take, I’d have laughed. Surely a few collection tubs and some ‘merch’ can’t take that much space. “Anyway, I’ve got a garage, I’ll find a corner for it”. That would have been my response.
And that’s what we’ve done for the past 11 months. Threw it in the garage and hoped we could find it when it was next needed. Whether it be the aforementioned collection tubs, the few thousand wristbands or branded pens, or the larger items; the gazebo, the folding table or the signage. All just scopped in, and hoped for the best.
It had to change. I wanted to use the space a couple of weeks ago to make a lightbox in preparation for the Winter Ball (more on that in the very near future). But there wasn’t a spare work-surface in the place. One thing would be precariously balanced upon something else, every draw cupboard or shelf was obscured and getting at that drill or that tin of paint was a 10 minute task. To find somewhere else to balance it, or some other item to block in.
Just part of the mess the garage had become
We thought about renting a storage space. Even went and looked at one. But I can think of 100 other ways to better use your donations than shelling out £50 a month for a cupboard!
We have the space at home, it just needed to be used better. And that’s where Tufferman came in. I sent a rather bland email asking if their tall units could be split in half vertically, and when that was successfully answered I asked the awkward question if they could split the 3-bay offer into 2 different depth units. I was being the person I hate, the person in the restaurant that has to adjust the menu to suit their needs, but Liam at Tufferman was extremely helpful.
After I explained what the units were to be used for, to store all the gear for the charity, and why I was being a pain with the questions (to fit the units behind the garage door, but have some deeper ones that fit around a column, and to fit the units beneath the window) he generously offered the units for free! I couldn’t believe the generosity. Of course I was cheeky enough to ask if some storage boxes could be threw in on top, and Tufferman obliged. “If you don’t ask…”
Could these 3 boxes sort out it all out?
This was Tuesday. On Wednesday I came home to a garage full of boxes. The very next day! I’m not sure how the courier managed to fit them all in given the state of the place!
I’ll be honest; I was like a kid at Christmas. The thought of being able to see the garage floor again was too much to contain, and once the kids were in bed, I braved the cold and set about putting these things together. It doesn’t take much; the system required no tools (despite a free mallet being included!) and just clipped into place. I did stub my thumb on one or 2, but generally it went together like lego. The hardest bit was getting the rubber feet on the legs, and once I’d mastered the technique (it didn’t take much mastering) I was away. Probably the best thing was it took very little space to assemble it all, so I didn’t have to empty the garage out into the rain before I got started.
It has been a revelation. In less than 90 mins I got the space relatively organised and was able to get in and out of the garage, put my hands on things easily, and have plenty of space left for further expansion.
Once I’ve got everything out of the cardboard delivery boxes and into the clear plastic storage boxes Tufferman sent over, it’ll only get better.
Can’t thank Tufferman enough, I would have gladly paid for the units, and now I can spend more of my time doing something useful, rather than scrambling around knocking boxes over looking for a pack of leaflets! The products, the service and the delivery cannot be faulted, and will definitely use them again if we outgrow the garage!
