Knowledge may be power but in the emerging world of skill-sharing, it is pompoms - not pinstripes - that are a hallmark of the new learned.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Wild Rumpus is a skill-sharing enterprise founded by northern Illawarra mums Caitlin Marshall and Lizzie Rose early this year.
The pair have enlisted their own faculty of Illawarra creatives - stay-at-home-parents, hobbyists and sidelining professionals - to teach basic but sometimes coveted skills to small classes for fees of between $15 and $30 a person.
Subjects are chosen to fit a creative, sustainable, DIY ethos, resulting in a program laden with quirk, practicality and whimsy.
Past classes have included pompom-making, a cappella singing and - a quick sell-out - sourdough breadmaking.
The new spring program, available on the Wild Rumpus website, includes classes in wildflower identification, mosaic plate-making, backyard beekeeping, guitar (for campfires and parties), "Power tools for chicks", swing dancing, pushbike maintenance and Burmese cooking.
Skill-sharing enterprises are having a moment in the sun as part of the burgeoning economy of collaborative consumption, where participants - enabled by social media - share access to services, skills and assets.
Ms Marshall believes sharing and making, with their potential for reducing costs, carbon footprint and isolation, feed a growing social appetite for a return to basics.
"I think there's a move away from the consumer lifestyle that has really been dominant in our culture for a number of decades," she said.
"There's a renewed interest in becoming resourceful and skilled in being able to do a whole range of things.
"There's a lot of growing awareness about climate change and about some things we can do to reduce mindless consumption. People are seeking a way to live more sustainability."
It was at a skill share-style singing class at a mutual friend's house in Bulli that Marshall, a community development worker recently arrived in Woonona from Queensland, met Rose, a sustainability guru and non-profit sector worker from Thirroul, in 2007.
It was in those early days that Marshall discovered a Wollongong "full of people who are really enthusiastic and pro-active", starting with Rose, who seemed to know lots of creative skills and went on to found Thirroul's successful Flame Tree food co-op in 2010.
The pair are now setting their sights on expansion and would like to see Wild Rumpus grow to include skill-sharing festivals, custom-designed team building experiences for businesses and revitalising spaces.
"The timing couldn't be better," Rose said.
"Wollongong's ripe and ready for this sort of thing."
