Wokingham Men’s Shed - Trustees Annual Report 2023
2023 has been a busy year for the Wokingham Men’s Shed. Our ‘raison d’etre’ remains to provide a place where typically retired men can come and socialise in a collaborative environment, and thus help to reduce what might be a more lonely and isolated time of life. In that regard we remain very successful, and as a by-product we have managed to help local charities as well as schools and the local council with quite a number of community woodwork projects throughout the year.
We have had some turnover in our membership this year, and an overall reduction due to people moving away from the borough or finding that they have emerging medical difficulties preventing them from being an active Shed member. Current membership stands at around 30 members, although the situation is constantly changing, and we will be endeavouring to reach out for more members over the coming 12 months.
The Trustees of the Shed have remained stable, with a total of 5 Trustees, and we have increased the number of available Duty Managers to a total of 7, giving us some flexibility if some DMs are unable to attend the Shed on a particular day. The Shed is still currently open 3 days per week, and we have no plans to open on other days at this stage
The financial situation of the Shed continues to be stable, even with the reduction in membership, which is helped by the fact that the Shed continues to operate with low outgoings. We also continue to operate as simply and straightforwardly as possible, so as to minimize the workload on the trustees and DMs who together form the management team of the Shed.
We’ve had to buy some additional power tools this year, such as our new cordless circular saw and our new router. We’ve also had to replace other tools which have worn out by all of the use in our many projects. And of course we continue to replenish consumables in the Shed; everything from tea and coffee to sandpaper and glue.
Activities wise, we’ve continued to improve the shed environment with a beautifully made folding shelf-bench, giving us shelf space as well as the ability to unfold the shelves into an additional workbench. We’ve also added a belt sander and some additional shelf and rack space to help manage what is manifestly a relatively small men’s shed.
On the project side, we’ve made things for local charities and schools, including a coffee bar for St Sebastian’s Church, large signboards for Embrook and Fox Hill parks, sturdy benches for the local NHS hospital grounds, and a mud kitchen for a local school in Winnersh. We also repainted the cast iron bench ends for the benches in one of the Wokingham town gardens, and we’ve made several stall games for the Winnersh Rotary Club.
Besides the contributions we’ve made to the local community, I am proud and happy to say that
we as a group of ‘shedders’ have all become closer as friends. Our ‘WhatsApp’ group regularly boasts discussions among us covering help and advice for one another, and many of the members have met socially on occasions outside of the Shed.
All in all, it has been another year of good company and productive fun for our Men’s Shed, and I think we can look forward to another positive year for our Shedders and the greater Wokingham community
Ron Baillie Chairman – Wokingham Men’s Shed
Wokingham Men’s Shed – Accounts for Year 2023
WMS completed the year 2023 with little overall change to our bank balance as expenditure on tools and consumables and other Shed run costs was evenly balanced with income through membership fees and small donations.. Our accounts remain sufficiently healthy for us to continue our activities.
| Wokingham Mens Shed | Wokingham Mens Shed | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| **2023 ** | Full Calendar Year | |||
| Income | ||||
| MembeshipFees | 1,380 | |||
| Donations Charities | 696 | |||
| FundraisingEvents | 380 | |||
| ChristmasLunchContribution | 280 | |||
| Reimbursement for Project Materials | 1,039 | |||
| 3,775 | ||||
| Expenditure | ||||
| UKMSA Membership | 30 | |||
| Building Maintenance | 70 | |||
| Event Expenses | 1,065 | |||
| Insurance | 300 | |||
| Tools and consumables | 1,376 | |||
| Services-Website | 10 | |||
| Project supplies | 907 | |||
| 3,758 | ||||
| Year Surplus / (Deficit) | £17 | |||
| Closing Summary | ||||
| open | close | |||
| Bank Account | £6,176 | £6,160 | ||
| Petty Cash | £122 | £181 | ||
| £6,298 | £6,341 | |||
Barry Lowis Treasurer – Wokingham Men’s Shed