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    VET students Levi Linto, Edenhope, and Tanner Eldridge, Dimboola, work on a cubby house at Federation University in Horsham. Picture: PAUL CARRACHER

Federation University TAFE students build cubby for charity

Wimmera building and construction students have donated a cubby house to Ballarat premature baby charity Life’s Little Treasures.

The charity will award the cubby to an entrant in its October 11 fundraising walk as a ‘door prize’. 

Built at Federation University TAFE in Horsham under the guidance of trainer Nathan Harmer, it was one of six cubby houses made for the Certificate II Building and Construction qualification.

Mr Harmer said the builds incorporated different study units for both building and construction, and plumbing students.



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“Year-10 and year-11 equivalent students start by doing a sub-floor, then wall frames, roof framing, and our last assessment will be cladding,” he said.

Mr Harmer said the donation came about in a cyclical way.

“It’s funny that from little things, big things grow,” he said.

“One day I took a photo of the cubbies being built in the workshop and posted it on the university’s internal website, not really thinking about the whole university seeing it.

“It almost went viral, there was lots of positive feedback. 

“Then, Haymes got in touch and offered to donate paint and asked if we would be willing to donate to a charity they knew of that supported families with premature babies.”

Mr Harmer said the students had taken much pride in the project.

“It’s given them a sense of purpose – they have made and taken home tool boxes and things like that, but to build something that’s going to go somewhere in the community – I’ve never seen them work as well as they worked, to get this done and transported to Ballarat,” he said.

Mr Harmer said another of the cubbies would be given to a children’s service in the Wimmera, with the remainder sold.

“We haven’t got much left to do on the other cubbies, but after the school holidays we will start painting them,” he said.

 

The entire September 30, 2026 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!