Narrogin Masonic Lodge takes on new life as OSHC service

The former Narrogin Masonic Lodge will now be an outside school hours care (OSHC) service, supporting families in the region who require education and care for children aged between five and ten years. 

Narrogin Children and Families Inc. (NCFI) recently purchased the former masonry building, and hope to have services available within six months, with capacity to care for 30 children per day. 

A home has been found for Narrogin’s new childcare centre and it could be open in six months.

The Shire of Narrogin advised the organisation about the availability of the building in July this year, after six months of the organisation seeking a suitable property. 

Narrogin Freemasons vacated the building in early July on merging with the Wagin branch, and plan to transfer ownership to the NCFI by 30 December 2024. 

NCFI has raised $15,000 thus far through popular platform Go Fund Me and other fundraising initiatives, with a goal of $100,000 on the table to cover the cost of the building and any renovations required to make it fit for service, NCFI president Kellie Wilkins shared with local news source Narrogin Observer.

The news of the upcoming service offering has been welcomed by local families, Ms Wilkins shared, with a huge demand before the doors have even opened. 

“We’ve had many people reach out to us who’ve lost their jobs or resigned because they couldn’t get care,” she said.

“People are child sharing, we’ve got high school students babysitting, parents paying $500 a week for vacation care, which is not suitable in this day and age.”

Aside from the building being in the ideal location, with the Fortune Street building being located on the same block as St Matthews Primary School, across the road from Narrogin Primary School and nearby East Narrogin Primary School, it is the only building thus far which has met licensing standards, including the number of toilets and square metres needed. 

“We went through several buildings and found the same issues, they needed too many repairs or weren’t suitable by Australian standards,” she said.

“The masonry is essentially a big hall, it’s very easy to tick the boxes.”

“The building has essential things, like a kitchen, so we don’t need to renovate entire sections. We also have the ability for an outdoor area and ample parking.”

Property trustee and Freemason Darryl Gaull said it was a great result for the building.

“You don’t want to see it become empty,” he said.

“It’s been there for 117 years and the Freemasons couldn’t continue so I think it’s great Narrogin Children and Families Incorporated can use it.”

Renovations required include rewiring, replacing flooring, repairing white ant damage, installing a new hot water system, adding fencing and repainting. 

To learn more about the service, or to follow the progress of the project, please visit the NCFI Facebook page. 

The original coverage of this story may be found here.