Charity organisation, Tools for Self Reliance (TFSR) recently welcomed six used Tormek sharpening machines to its HQ in Netley Marsh. The machines came from BriMarc Tools (sister company of Axminster) and Tormek. They were previously for the use of students at Leeds College.

Tormek machines and volunteers at the Tools for Self Reliance HQ
Left to right: volunteers John Harcourt, Roy Barnard, John Howell, Brian Sharp and TFSR Chief Executive Sarah Ingleby

Tools for Self Reliance collects tools for sending to development projects in Africa. More specifically to six African countries: Ghana, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. The aim is to help local communities affected by poverty with the development of sustainable livelihoods and income diversification. These Tormek sharpening systems will be used in the charity's workshops throughout the UK to prepare tools for sending.

We are delighted to receive these. The six Tormeks will be fully cleaned and checked before being passed on to the refurbishing groups that will gain most benefit from them. We recognise that Tormek are the gold standard when it comes to tool sharpening machines. They will enable our volunteer groups to produce finished chisels and planes sharpened to a high standard. We are very grateful to both BriMarc and Tormek for their kind and generous donation. We can assure you we will put them to very good use.

Ian Limbrick, Deputy CEO of Tools for Self Reliance

Volunteer groups

Throughout the UK, there are a total of 778 volunteers working for TFSR. The majority of these volunteers work in 45 volunteer groups spread from Aberdeen to the south coast. Each group has a workshop where they collect tools donated by members of the public. In the workshops, they refurbish them to ‘as new’ standard and send them on to Netley Marsh for inclusion in kits sent to Africa. Without the volunteers TFSR would not be able to provide tools together with vocational and business training to its project participants. In 2016 the charity trained and equipped 3,705 people working with its partner organisations in the six countries listed within Africa.