Tween Ruby's Winning Invention

How The 12-year-old Is Helping People Getagrip

- Fleur Mealing

While it’s common for children to make a papier-mâché volcano for their school science fair project, Ruby Mainwaring looked to her family for inspiration, choosing to help someone dear to her.

Incredibly, the 12-year-old from Palmerston North now has her own business and, at the same time, has made a world of difference to her beloved poppa.

Ruby’s science-fair project focused on fashioning a dual grip mat to help Ray Roydhouse (77) unwind screwtop jars in the kitchen, a task that had become increasingly difficult after the muscles in his hands and feet started weakening and disappearing.

“I did it all to help Poppa,” Ruby explains to the Weekly. “He has got a neuropathy in his hand called Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease.

“He has struggled for a long time to open jars. We did a lot of research on existing products in the market and found a lot of them were too expensive and too hard to use, and none were dual grip.”

With a bit of help from her parents Rob (52) and Amanda (49), Ruby set about researching and creating something that met Ray’s needs.