PPC chair, Dr Gordon Saggers with Prefabulous MD Gavin King. Photo: Chris Roe.
Wagga’s Pro Patria Centre (PPC) is going from strength to strength in its mission to deliver holistic support to the Riverina’s veterans and is collaborating with a local construction company to build a new permanent home for the Wagga Defence Men’s Shed.
“We’ve just signed a contract with Prefabulous to provide buildings which are specifically designed by the Defence Men’s Shed members,” said PPC chair, Dr Gordon Saggers.
“It will be a place where they will have facilities to enhance their education and their togetherness and wellbeing.
“The Defence Men’s Shed has enabled veterans to get out of their sometimes very difficult situations at home and that leads on to better outcomes for them and their families.”
The tender on the project is valued at more than $1m and will create a permanent home and workshop for the large veterans group on the grounds of the PPC.
PPC officially took ownership of the former Carmelite Monastery at Ashmont in September last year, finally securing a location to deliver its unique brand of holistic health care.
Dr Saggers said having the bricks-and-mortar security had made it possible for them to expand and attract more government investment.
“I think that the government has seen that we actually own the property down here now and we’ve received a grant from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs,” he explained.
“This is a whole new venue for the Men’s Shed and now they will be on the property that has been bought by the community, and it’s great to see the government finally saying that they will endorse this by providing some funds.”
The new Defence Men’s Shed will have a permanent home at the Pro Patria Centre. Photo: Chris Roe.
Prefabulous Buildings is a Wagga company that has been garnering national attention with a range of architect-designed modular buildings that are on the cutting edge of environmental innovation.
“The Defence shed members have specifically designed the space for their needs, and Prefabulous have been very generous with some of their tradies providing their time at no cost to help make this grant work,” Dr Saggers said.
“All the work that we do at Pro Patria is volunteer so it’s a really good combination having a Wagga company working with us.”
Prefabulous Buildings Managing Director Gavin King said he was delighted to support the PPC.
“This is such a worthy local project and run by experienced guys who have always done good for the community and it’s a privilege for us to be a part of it,” he said.
“Our in-house design team has worked with the scope of the project and we’ll put it together here as we do our other premium buildings.
“They’ll be delivered in modular sections and installed with a crane, so it will all happen pretty quickly once we’re on-site.”
You can learn more about the work of PPC with veterans and first responders on their website.
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