With all members of the Cumulus team in Hobart for our annual Christmas celebrations, we spent Friday morning out at the Oakdale Industries Timber workshop in Warrane.

Oakdale Industries is the woodworking arm of Oak Tasmania, a social enterprise that trains and employs Tasmanians living with a disability. The Warrane workshop provides opportunities for over 30 people with a disability, specialising in the production of high quality timber products.

After hearing of Oakdale’s work with leading industry suppliers, we organised a staff workshop tour to learn a little more about the business.

On arrival, our guide John Hollis immediately demonstrated a passion for his work and his employees, with examples of finished products and specialist materials.

John kindly showed us around each of the workshop areas, introducing us to the staff, demonstrating the on-site equipment, and highlighting a range of clever waste minimisation strategies.

From joinery and bed making, to flooring and fire pellets, the advanced capabilities of the business left us extremely impressed. Watching the production in action was a great experience for our team of designers, with a number of exciting ideas for future collaboration already in the works.

We would like to extend a big thanks to Kim Backhouse and John Hollis from Oak Tasmania for showing us around and look forward to working with the Oakdale team in the future!