History of Tools with a Mission

Tools With A Mission was the brainchild of John Bennett of Waterlooville. A teacher by profession, John became involved in getting together a collection of tools to support the agricultural development work being carried out in Zaire (as it was then) by the late David Stockley. John discovered that tools were badly needed and soon involved pupils from his school collecting all kinds of agricultural tools. Under his direct supervision the pupils cleaned, renovated and painted the tools ready to go to Zaire.
They organised a “sponsored event” to get the money with which to ship them, and that was the first TWAM shipment.

This idea began to formulate in John’s mind, and he decided that there must be others in the same situation as David; trying to pass on skills to people who badly needed them, but with little in the way of actual tools. John suggested the idea to the Baptist Men’s Movement who adopted the idea and launched Tools With A Mission as an auxiliary in 1984.

John Varrell became the first “Mr. Tools” and David Rudland was Secretary, when operations first began out of a small garage in Bexley Heath. Eric Mountford became Chairman in 1989 and under his leadership the work began to expand. After five years the work had to look for larger premises.
In response to an article in the Baptist Times, Beryl and Bill Dewhurst offered the use of a Barn situated on the outskirts of Ipswich. It was during its time at Thurleston Lodge Farm that a regular work team became established. Initially it was monthly, then weekly and soon daily. During this period David Rudland asked to be relieved of office as he was moving from the area and Dr. Geoff Petersen became Administrator. Bill Gale was appointed Treasurer. Jim Nicholls became the first Supervisor of the Barn operations.

Space was again soon at a premium and it was at this point that rented premises had to be sought in order to obtain the kind of space which was required. TWAM moved into Perry Barn, in Sproughton, just outside Ipswich where we now had 2,300 square feet of warehouse space, plus the luxuries of heating, toilets and a canteen area. TWAM was now growing at a rate that was unimaginable in the early days. By this stage the output had increased dramatically, due to the fact that all operations could now be carried out under the one roof. During the time we were at Perry Barn Bill Dewhurst succeeded Eric Mountford as Chairman, and Eric Tallent became Secretary. Eric Mountford was appointed the first Hon. President in recognition of his services. It was at this point that it was decided there was a need to appoint our first Manager. Tim Elliot came to us initially on a part time basis but the work soon became full time. Robin Edgely joined us as Foreman and under his leadership the warehouse and stores came into order. Eric Tallent resigned and Margaret Phillips became Company Secretary and David Pressey was appointed Financial Director.

In spite of additional storage space being created by using two 20-foot containers and a Portacabin were added to accommodate the office staff and administration, operational space quickly became a premium. It was during our stay at Perry Barn that TWAM became a Charity in its own right, and moved on to hold its own AGM. It quickly established itself as an interdenominational Charity, gaining support form all the major denominations and even many secular organisations.

We were lead to take a twenty-year lease on a unit on Hadleigh Road Industrial Estate, in Ipswich. This gave us just over 6700 square feet of floor space, which increased by a further 1000 square feet when we added the Mezzanine Floor over the workshop area. Just two years into our lease the owner offered us the opportunity to purchase the property, which we were able to do for £270,000. Appeals raised over £185,000 and since then we have been able to make repayments on the Bank Loan leaving us only £40,000 to pay. We are grateful to God and those who supported us in this venture. Tragically David Pressey died of a heart attack shortly after we had signed the lease on 2, Bailey Close, he was succeeded by Angela Carpenter for a short period.

Our current Treasurer Ken Sheppard followed her. Margaret Phillips moved further away from Ipswich and her role of Company Secretary was taken over by Ron Endean.