## **CHAIRMAN’S REPORT FOR 2025** Chairman’s Report 2025 Welcome everyone and thank you for coming to our AGM – our 10th AGM – so I suppose the first point of note is that, well, we’re still here! We know that we won’t be here in Station Road for much longer but being here as a valued part of Winslow’s web of community support is, we hope and believe, something that is firmly established and the more so by the year. So, looking back at the last twelve months, what has changed, what has stayed the same and what will be our priorities for the year ahead? Moving to new premises is the obvious one and we do have news to report but I’m going to keep you on tender hooks for the moment. What has stayed the same in 2025? We’ve put in appearances and sold Shed Treasure at the Winslow Show and at our Town Christmas Fayre, we’ve made dozens of assorted bird boxes, bird tables, veg boxes, re-cycled wood book-swap cabinets, reading thrones, mud kitchens and buddy benches for local schools and (who could forget Mick and Derek’s architectural tour de force?) a Fairy Hotel for Steeple Claydon School. Garden shears have been sharpened to perfection, antique chairs have been repaired for the service and appreciation of a new generation, boats have been preened ready for another season with MK Sailability and member’s old cars have received the oily rag and spanners treatment. Misspent teenage years have been relived as two Lambretta scooters come back to life and some Shedders have disappeared completely under their own shavings as the woodturning bug continues to bite (anyone seen Brian lately?). Also ‘staying the same’ is our leaky roof and our healthily unhealthy obsession with caffeine and custard creams - ‘Healthy’ for what this represents in time spent chatting and enjoying the social time that is fundamental to what Shedding is about. And in July, of course, 40 Shedders gathered for our 10thBirthday BBQ. Members do come and go to a degree but membership stays at about 60. This could be construed as a ‘drop-out’ rate or as a healthy ‘refresh’ rate – something we need to be aware of if not concerned about. Attendance remains at about 20 per session. An issue that has become more prominent over the last year is how we are increasingly ‘on the radar’ of local and national organisations with invitations to contribute to or support in some way their own work and projects. There’s no doubt that we could derive kudos from some of the offers: tea in the House of Commons, a celebration service at St Pauls or prizes in the national ‘Shed of the Year’ competition, for example. Winslow Shed has always and will always prioritise simple local measures to make us a welcoming and valuable place for men in and around the town. Accolades, press coverage and celebrity endorsements mean absolutely nothing if we don’t make a new member welcome, offer visitors a cuppa and make time for each other. But we do know that there can be danger in being too parochial in our outlook – we don’t want to miss out on suitable opportunities. For 2025 we decided to see what ‘getting out more’ might look like so: 1 251231 Report and Accounts.docx - We responded to UKMSA’s invitation to be awarded ‘Armed Forces Community - Friendly’ accreditation. - We invited ‘Healthwatch Bucks’ in to conduct round-table discussions about service availability in our area. - We are expecting a visit from a UKMSA delegate conducting research into - Health and Wellbeing promotion in Men’s Sheds. - We hosted a visit from our new MP to see who we are and what we are about. - We remain signed up to the national Warm Welcome campaign. - We invited speakers in to deliver and all Winslow residents in to hear our Winter - Talks programme. We have responded positively to local groups and now have a ‘World Tour’ programme in place for the Summer: - May – Info stall for Winslow Market community stall. • June – Info stall for Adstock Open Gardens weekend. - July – Steeple Claydon School Summer Fete. - September - Bird box making workshops for Steeple Claydon Scouts. Shedding does need mostly to happen in the Shed so we need to balance how many outings we can support without it becoming burdensome or difficult to ‘staff’. And now the big question – what is our position regarding new premises once this site is cleared for development? Clearly, our ambitions have to fit within the whole picture of residential and commercial development in Winslow and that’s a topic that impacts on just about everyone. Understandably, huge sensitivities are triggered and, when important decisions have yet to be made, accurate information seems patchy and speculation thrives. We are therefore anxious to report only what is already in the public domain – and the news is encouraging. - Station Road Industry will be replaced by a new Employment site on - Granborough Road - loosely centred on the current T&A Lee’s paint and bodywork shop. - The new development will be a mix of residential and commercial premises; the - overall layout of the proposed site has been in the public domain for some time – the latest iteration was made public in early March of this year. - This plan now features on a new Facebook site – ‘Winslow Planning News’ which - places it in front of a wider audience who, perhaps, may not previously have trawled local authority sites for information. So far the plans have only received supportive comments. - Significantly, the drawing shows MISW as the only proposed tenant of the new - units to have their name attached to a specific building. 2 251231 Report and Accounts.docx • The developer of the site is a keen Shed supporter and has made it clear that he intends to gift one of the new units to MISW on a free 30-year lease. This is now written into a binding agreement in our favour and is currently with his solicitors. MISW appointed solicitors in March 2025 and they are now engaged with solicitors for the developer. So yes, encouraging, but there are still agreements to be reached and decisions to be made that go beyond what are, essentially, the gentleman’s agreements we have so far. We remain heartened by the wide support we receive from our Town Council and from the Winslow community in particular. Callum Anderson MP was kind enough to comment on his own Facebook channel: **“Great to visit Winslow Men in Sheds last week and what a fantastic group. They’re around 50 members strong and clearly making a real difference in the community. It was brilliant to see such camaraderie, skill-sharing and support in action.”** At last year’s AGM I presented some back-of-an-envelope sums; We are open for 50 weeks in a year, twice a week with an average attendance of about 20. Length of stay averages to about 3 hours per session. That adds up to 50 x 2 x3 x 20 = 6,000hrs of social connection opportunity per year for the menfolk of Winslow. We’re not really into ‘Stats’ but at this time in particular they do matter so, please, remember to sign in at the desk before you leave today ! Thanks again for coming. Tim Elderton Chairman of Trustees. 3 251231 Report and Accounts.docx ## MEN IN SHEDS WINSLOW 2025 INCOME AND EXPENDITURE STATEMENT ## **INCOME** ## **EXPENDITURE** |Subscriptions
Session Fees
Sales
Donations
Compensation
Interest|627.50
Equipment
4,220.11
Parts
1,222.00
Materials
4,131.42
Electricity & Gas
1,100.00
Insurance
420.52
UK Men's Sheds Ass'n
Health and Safety
Data Protection
Anniversary Celebration
Waste/Recycling
Card Processing Fees
Sundries
**Surplus**
11,721.55|1,057.45
495.64
528.23
3,843.41
675.64
30.00
943.02
35.00
95.02
277.00
35.28
360.41
3,345.45| |---|---|---| |||11,721.55| ## MEN IN SHEDS WINSLOW BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2025 ## **RESERVE FUND** |Balance Brought Forward 01 January
2025
Surplus of Income over Expenditure 2025
Balance Carried Forward
**Financed as under**
**FIXED ASSETS**
**CURRENT ASSETS**
Dudley Building Society
T S B Current Account
Metro Bank Current Account
Cash in Hand
Solicitors Funds
Sundry Debtor
**Less CURRENT LIABILITIES**
Bucks Council - waste
British Gas - electricity
Eon - gas|24,500.00
1,437.26
2,094.06
50.00
700.00
81.72
17.80
285.46
107.69|25,106.64
3,345.45| |---|---|---| |||28,452.09| |||0.00
28,863.04
410.95| |||28,452.09| 4 251231 Report and Accounts.docx