Chairmans Report May 2021 – May 2022
Dave Puttock
First I want to thank Alan Bush for his service as a trustee and Treasurer for the last three years, and to welcome Jim Bell who has agreed to take over that role.
Those of you who were at last years AGM may remember that I described two main aims for the future of our Men’s Shed.
The first was to make it a safe, friendly atmosphere and I think we have done very well in that respect. The regular Monday catering is very popular and we recognise Rob for his great work in making it a success. I am also glad to see so many members freely giving of their time to help others.
The second aim was to attain a sound financial position. We are nearing that position although the effect of expected energy cost rises leaves some area of uncertainty. Our membership fees currently cover the bulk of the cost of insurance, fire extinguishers and other domestic costs. We currently have a need to find £4000/year for rent and £2000/year for utilities.
We started the year with average attendance of 12 per session; 2 sessions per week giving us a day subs income of £3600. Fortunately at the start of our year we were still being charged at 75% rent rate and our landlords also gave us some rent relief during the period we were closed due to the Covid pandemic. We announced at the last AGM that the Northallerton Computer Group would become part of the Men’s Shed and would meet here on Tuesday afternoons, that has added a welcome £1000 to our income but I think they are still finding their feet in terms of establishing a regular attendance as opposed to a drop in clinic style, which is always difficult to service.
The ladies day which was tabled at the last AGM was trialled with a series of 3 taster sessions in November and after a very positive reception we decided to make Fridays a regular ladies day.
Ladies day has started positively with 11 paid up members and a regular attendance of at least 8.
With an increase of members at the Monday and Thursday sessions we are now able to cover our fixed costs from our membership subscriptions.
Job done ? – not quite
Chris has been successful in attracting donations and grants to enable us to purchase a much improved table saw, air filtration units, aprons, cooking equipment and a host of small consumable items. It is time now to think about how we might spend
Chairmans Report May 2021 – May 2022
Dave Puttock
further funds to the best use of the members. The majority of grants are given for specific project aims, not for running costs.
Ladies days whilst largely successful need more help in stewardship and guidance. We are grateful to Larry, Foz, Ian and Eric for their regular assistance but it seems that it is still going to be some time before the ladies are able to operate without guys to help. I would like to think that one or two more guys would be prepared to add themselves to the rota of session helpers, and still hope that we will find one or two ladies who are confident enough to take over leadership roles.
Towards the end of the period, the trustees were worried about the increase in members as there were occasional days when up to 20 members were in and it was becoming very busy. With over 50 members at that time we we’re having to consider how it might be limited. The trustees do not want to take actions such as booking sessions or limiting which day members can attend as this does not fit with our policy of a relaxed friendly atmosphere, we want people to feel they can come when it suits them. At the end of the 2021/22 financial period renewals are about 80% plus a few new members so we are at about our comfortable numbers for these premises.
One of the other ways of fitting in more people is to operate more sessions, the problem here is that our pool of day supervisors is already very thin and many are being called on more than once a month (which is our aim), so more sessions requires more active day supervisors.
One new incentive is that a couple of members requested that they trial a craft session on Tuesday mornings (before computer group). During this time any sort of clean crafts could be envisaged such as bookbinding, tiffany style glass work, sewing etc but excluding the woodwork equipment. This has now had a number of meetings and is open to all members male or female, just turn up at 10 on a Tuesday morning.
Finally we all should say a big thank you to all the day supervisors who, have taken on the responsibilities of opening/closing bring milk (often refusing expenses), and have helped prospective members get a flavour of what we have to offer.
So what of the future, I haven’t heard any grumbles so more of the same, I suppose. My main concern at present is space and storage. We obviously want to offer each of our members the space to safely leave their part finished projects but that is becoming difficult so we must look to see if we can improve tidiness and utilise space better. We are already having to store some timber and machines off site but this is less than ideal. I look for all members help, suggestions and involvement in tackling this issue.
Northallerton Men’s Shed Accounts Summary 1/04/2021 until 27/05/2022
| Balance Brought Forward from 31/03/21 Income from 1/04/21 until 27/05/22 Expenditure for 2021/22 Cash held 27/05/2022 Funds held in current account 27/05/2022 Total Funds 27/05/2022 INCOME £ Grants 6950 Donations 1075.50 Membership Fee 1250 Subs 5175.68 Miscellaneous (1) 1668.89 TOTAL INCOME 16120.07 (1) Includes Gift Aid (£637.48) and Sales |
£9968.38 £16120.07 £11270.81 £364.10 £14453.54 £14817.64 EXPENDITURE £ Equipment 5426.26 Rent 3750 Electricity 160.82 Gas 1175.84 Miscellaneous (2) 757.89 TOTAL EXPENDITURE 11270.81 (2) Includes Insurance (£571.20) |
|---|---|
GRANTS and DONATIONS
– Financial period 01/04/2021 27/05/2022
| Grants: | Donations include: | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Brunton Trust | £1000 | Shooting Club | £750 |
| HDC (Covid Response) | £400 | Masons | £75 |
| Together Fund | £1000 | ||
| Lottery Grant | £2000 | ||
| Cookery Grant | £650 | ||
| BHA | £450 | ||
| Northallerton TC | £450 | ||
| NYCC | £1000 |
– Previous Financial Year 01/04/2020 31/03/2021
Grants: Donations include: Mayor’s Grant £750 Masons £100 Police and Crime £2000 Rotary £250 Commissioner Grant
NYCC Stronger £1000 Communities Grant