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If all goes to plan at the AGM tomorrow this will be my last Shed Notes while Chair of the Pentlands Men's Shed. It has been an eventful few years with quite a few ups and downs but on the whole a most enjoyable period for myself and I hope others. The Shed is on a firm footing, we have premises and extensions to the premises and most importantly we have members who come for a chat and tea, do some work as and when required and hopefully try and chill out from the other stresses of everyday life. Those members who have not been for a while, please don't be afraid to come back as and when you can, don't expect us to remember your name (even if you were there last week!) and check if your photo is on the shed wall - that may require updating too!!
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The AGM starts at 1030 tomorrow morning, arrive early and get a cuppa before we start. I'm ending this with the report I will be presenting tomorrow, Iain will also put it on the website in due course.
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Regards to all, stay safe and well and enjoy the summer.
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Chairman’s Report
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This report will be my last as Chair and I thank everyone for putting up with me, staying with, and contributing to, the Shed during what has been a pretty stressful time for all concerned. We have all struggled through COVID and I think that the Shed has helped us in many ways to get through a wheen of changing circumstances. We remain a come when you can, with no obligation on attendance, (except for AGM’s!) Shed where you will always be made welcome. Slowly but satisfyingly, more Members are expressing their opinions and taking on tasks or other project options which is the only way that the Shed will continue to thrive. This is one of the reasons I wish to stand down as chair now. We have demonstrated that the Shed is viable and we have able and willing Members to take ideas forward but I still feel many are holding back, either because it is a good idea but ‘someone else has to do it’, or ‘I’m not suggesting that ‘cos the chair will veto it’. When I start to think like that, and now know we have the capability within the Shed to keep it going successfully, it is time to sit back and become a Member with time to lead or do projects other than admin, although other Office Bearers do a lot more of that than I do! Our aim from the outset was to be a meeting place for men within the community who have some time to spare for a chat or sharing of skills or both thereby enhancing well being for all of those who wish to participate. I think we have all managed to contribute to that and by way of the Thursday evening Notes which are sent via the website email to all Members I consider we are meeting our charity obligation of keeping a record of what we are doing in the Shed as does the attendance sheets we keep for the Shed Meetings cover us as a record for insurance purposes.
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The other Trustees have been fantastic. We have completed a Constitution, obtained the Charity Status required to allow us to request funding from various sources, used these resources wisely to further the Shed and its ongoing success, made a website, fielded many questions and requests, all of this with considerable help and expertise from other Members, and we made things!.
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I’m grateful to all the input from Shed Members and have enjoyed the get together more than the work at times. The many ‘additional hours’ put in by Members in getting the Shed made watertight then fitted out was a formative part of the Shed ethos. It makes the job look easy when many join in and it only takes one to show what we should be doing at any one time for others to take up the tools and help – that, to me, is part of the satisfaction of being a Member of our Shed. I’m looking forward to simply being Project Manager on the store stage 2 completion – the addition of an insulated roof.
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Lyall, our Treasurer, has steered us through OSCR paperwork and reporting and has again produced the Treasurer’s report for this year which I hope we can all approve. Stewart has prepared, in conjunction with Lyall a Member expenses form and a project invoice Form. From here on we have one person responsible for seeing a project through to completion even though many Members may work on it and that person will also be responsible for completing those forms so that projects are able to be easily documented into the accounts, monies received and Member expenses paid.
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Iain, our secretary, continues to run and update the website and obtain favourable financial terms from the website hosting service. The website and the informal whats app gives us a lot of information on what is going on. Were it not for his efforts in getting Zoom up and running I do not think we would have as many Members as we have. We lost none during COVID and actually added to our number. He also has a good handle on the Insurance for the Shed and we will be giving that additional scrutiny at renewal this year due to lessons learnt from the as yet informal report on the Armadale Men’s Shed fire. To do all this Iain needs our input either direct to the website or to the website through him so please keep up the information flow and photographs.
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John manages to steer us through the fitting out of the Shed. I’m surprised just how young and stress-free he still looks! Keep up the good work John – we are not finiShed yet! Ian, our previous secretary and other Trustee will be standing down at this year’s AGM. Like myself he was inveigled into office at the very beginning and has helped steer us through getting a constitution, an MOU with the Scouts and most importantly, arranged our two lunches up at the Riccarton Arms as and when Covid allowed us to gather rather than have zoom meetings.
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So once again thanks to all my fellow Trustees and Members for making my job easy, for your individual skills and banter which makes our Shed an enjoyable and informative getaway from our other day to day activities.
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None of this would be possible without the co-operation and goodwill of the 42nd Pentland Scout Group and in particular Graham, Peter and Grant who continue to assist us in the progression and security of the Shed. We will continue to work with them to help keep their premises and wider Scouting Activities in good order and make the Shed an integral part of the community ethos the Scouts foster with their outlook and their building. Thanks also to the many people and businesses who have donated materials and funds to our Shed.
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