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I was going to say that I'm doing the notes this week because Ali is in the Frozen North, but it's not exactly tropical here. There are a few brass monkeys wandering around with worried looks on their faces...
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It has been another busy week at Pentlands Men's Shed. Apart from the kindling "production line" (of which more later) I attended the SMSA AGM (held virtually using Zoom) which included the announcement of the winners of the Shed of the Year competition. I reckon we could do pretty well in that, and wonder whether we could / should throw our collective hat into the ring for the 2023 contest. Food for thought?
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My wife, Gail, gave a talk last Friday about Maggie's Centre, which provide support for people affected by cancer, whether as patients, or family or friends of patients. I'd like to give my thanks to those who commented positively on the talk - much appreciated. I have put some of the slides onto the website in case you want to refer to them in the future.
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We are already arranging some "non-work" activities for 2023:
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- A talk from Andrew Marsden, Chair of Friends of the Pentlands, on 13 January. You may recall that we have agreed to do some work for them to improve their bird hide, and fix / replace some seats around the Pentlands that are no longer fit for purpose.
- An important date is a visit by Gordon Macdonald MSP on Friday 20 January, after he leaves his surgery at Currie Library (so probably just after 11.00). We will show him around, and also intend to use this opportunity to discuss the planned withdrawal of central funding for Men's Sheds by the Scottish Government, despite the value that the movement brings in terms of wellbeing and mental health.
- A First Aid course from the Red Cross tentatively in the diary for 17 March. We can accommodate up to 15 attendees (20 at a push), and will be looking for numbers nearer the time.
As Christmas approaches, we have had a very successful fund-raising effort with the ornaments and tea-light holders, but the real star of the show has been the kindling. I'm not sure how many bags we have sold in total but it is a lot - so well done and thank you to everyone that has been involved in cutting slabs of wood, chopping them into kindling, bagging them up, and selling them. I will admit to being a bit worried about the workload that this has imposed on members, and the consensus seems to be that we should spend time earlier next year building a stock that we can sell over the winter. It has, however, undoubtedly been a great way to raise funds to offset the running costs of the Shed. Stewart's adverts in the local Facebook pages have drummed up a lot of interest both in the kindling and more widely in publicising the Shed. Added to our recent publicity events and open week I reckon we are becoming well known around the local area.
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Even in the cold on Monday, a valiant group of Shedders prepared some more kindling, tidied the area around the Shed, put some pallets aside to dry out to be used for more kindling in the new year (some of which is already ordered!), and continued to organise the workshop. We are certainly becoming more organised overall, with Lyall having obtained a card payment machine, and John planning to create a set of instructions for its use.
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The Shed will formally close for Christmas after this week, subject to the effects of the weather that is forecast for Friday morning, and re-open on Friday 6 January. Some people may be around on other days, but there will be no official meetings between these dates. So in case I don't have another opportunity to say this before Santa comes, may I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and hopefully I will see you early in 2023.
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