As one of the Sunshine Coast's longest running woodworking groups enters its 21st year, one member says it is overwhelming to see the impact the group has on the community and its members' sense of belonging.

The Blackall Range Woodcrafters Guild began in 1996 with 12 members and now boasts 190, including 30 women.

The group donates 1,000 wooden toys annually to the Salvation Army, and many of those are made throughout the year on the allocated toy-making day — Wednesday.

Making toys for the children gives the group a great sense of achievement and pride. ( ABC Sunshine Coast: Rob Blackmore )

Founding member Hamish Borthwick said it was extremely gratifying making the toys, but the group also takes pride in helping other parts of the community.

When they recently became aware of a need for wheelchair trays, solitaire sets and puzzles at one of the local hospitals, they got to work.

"Our pleasure was seeing these adult girls almost in tears," Mr Borthwick said, choking back tears.

"From the pride of receiving, the want of receiving ... and I'm almost in tears talking about it because it meant a helluva lot to me."

Connecting over a cuppa is valued just as much the items produced by the Blackall Range Woodcrafters Guild. ( ABC Sunshine Coast: Rob Blackmore )

But Mr Borthwick said the benefit of small community groups like this one went beyond the items which were physically produced.

"We've got a lot of Vietnam vets, we've got people who've come in with depression... I know I've had a bit of depression over the last 21 years and thank God, I've got over it," he said.

He said at times, when the shed was in full force, it resembled a busy train station because there was always something happening and someone to watch.

"You see so many different characters go past and morning tea is no slim event I can tell you, because if you haven't got your wits about you, you get slammed," Mr Borthwick laughed.

The members share their knowledge with others in the group. ( ABC Sunshine Coast: Rob Blackmore )

The nearly 200 members come from all walks of life and include optometrists, radio engineers, surgeons and one submariner, Don Meredith.

Mr Meredith, a former Navy engineer of 22 years, found the guild after he retired to the Glasshouse Mountains.

"Although I'd never made things out of timber, as far as machinery goes there's very few manufacturing machines that I haven't operated at some time," he said.

"But I get out of the way when anything goes wrong."

Members of the group take great comfort from helping each other and sharing knowledge. ( ABC Sunshine Coast: Rob Blackmore )

It is that sense of camaraderie which instantly appealed to semi-retired Rick Vickers who has been part of the guild for the last five years, despite his self-confessed "fairly basic" wood working skills.

"My wife bought me a Christmas present which was a membership and said 'you'd better use this one' and I've been loving it ever since," Mr Vickers said.

"There are guys here who are willing and able to pass on a lifetime of skills to people like me who are newbies."

Mr Vickers, who at 66 is one of the club's youngest members, said he was proud of all he has created, given that his last foray into woodworking was at school.

"Every member of my family now have a bowl, nearly every member or relative has a cheese board or a cutting board and they love it," he laughed.

"I'm learning how to do blanket boxes with the dove-tailing so, my daughter who has everything in the world, I gave her a blanket box for her 21st birthday.

"You could go buy one, but this was made by dad with all its blemishes in it."

The group makes about 1,000 children's toys to the Salvation Army annually. ( ABC Sunshine Coast: Kylie Bartholomew )

Away from the guild, Mr Vickers works as a risk and safety consultant where his mind is immersed in policies, procedures and planning that may take years to bring to fruition.

"The things I do are cerebral and it takes ages, years sometimes, to get that culture across of what you need to be done," he said.

"However, here you can do something in four hours and you go 'You know what? I've made something now for my daughter, my niece ..' and you can't buy that sort of stuff."

Hamish Borthwick walks past where the wood is stored and categorised. ( ABC Sunshine Coast: Rob Blackmore )

The 190 members work out of a large shed at Montville in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, with every woodworking tool imaginable.

Mr Borthwick said the group uses trees donated from all over the country which are then milled on site, another skill for members to learn.

"We get trees donated to us by different people. It's easy for them to put it on a truck and bring it here instead of trying to make chips out of it and put it through the chipper," he said.

"We air dry the wood for about six months and then it all goes into the kiln and gets finished and then we sell that to the members and that's how we make our money to survive."