Nursling Men’s Shed Annual Report 2021
This was another mixed year for us because of the elephant in the room…Covid. It is going to be with us for a long time so we will have to learn to manage our lives around it as for every other organisation, and the other 650 odd Shed’s in the UK. No one solution will work for all except being sensible, vigilant and reactive. So, if we need to be 2mts apart, wear masks, or be outside, that’s what we will do.
I want to thank everyone for getting us to where we are. When I say everyone, I do mean everyone. The people that started back in 2019, those who joined along the way and those who have recently joined. The original members act as a core and are a visible sign that this looks like a good place. The recent joiners bring a sense of success to our project and let us know that we are on the right track, and I’m pretty sure that had it not been for the elephant mentioned above there would be a lot more people joining, but they will come.
So where are we? In a pretty good place is the quick answer. When we started, we had a plan for how we would set things up what we would do and how we would operate. A good number of those things changed along the way. We had intended to be part of the Royal Voluntary Service charitable offerings, but changes to their constitution made that inoperable, and we became a charity in our own right. We wanted to have representation within our Trustees from St Boniface Church and that did happen, and Ken and Avis are still part of our journey, and further John Sofrin one of our early members is now Church Warden.
Our original requirement under the terms of the lease was to ‘decorate the Hall, repair the holes in the floor and replace any broken glass! well we exceeded that by some way, and one thing I will not miss is the smell of rotten, damp wood and fungal growth that used to greet us as we entered the Hall. We had to replace nearly all the joist ends as they were rotten, clear out the air bricks and install a damp-proof course pretty much everywhere that wood came into contact with brick. One big job that still has to be done that was never expected is the brick ties through the external brickwork. When we were replacing the facias and guttering, we noticed that some of the outer skin was bowing and indeed moving, but we now have a solution once the weather gets better.
We found the best solution for the rotten windows was to replace them, and now they have all been replaced with the exception of those on the front elevation which we still have to repair, so a steady pair of hands will be required for that, and of course some warm weather.
The kitchen and toilet are pretty much completed, and we get good comments from people visiting for the first time. The electrical installation has come along very nicely thanks to Mick Perrott, and that will get certified in the next few months. We also have a library which has a fair mix of literature, textbooks and novels.
We’ve also spent quite a bit of time making and repairing things. I’m not sure how many bird boxes and bird tables we have made but we must be in line for an Attenborough Award (if there isn’t one, then there should be). We are still busy moving work benches around to find the optimum layout for the Hall and workshop, and there is a steady flow of projects coming through the door, chairs, benches telephone boxes. The great thing is that there is always someone willing to take them on, and someone who ‘knows a bit about this or that’. A couple of weeks back I was in there and just standing and listening to the chatter and camaraderie, it was a lovely sound. It’s great that we have that ability to create chaos out of mess and enjoy doing it!
As we all know storage of materials and works in progress is and will remain an ongoing problem. The constant deliveries of garage clearances and items for repair are what we need to make our living, this combined with our intention to make the Hall available for other groups is going to be a challenge. Current options include a large wooden shed at the allotment end of the churchyard, a mezzanine floor above the workshop, and a container in the field over the road. Nobody has yet suggested a basement extension! We also have the original option to put storage boxes around the perimeter of the Hall which would double as seating. If there are any bright ideas that may help with this knotty problem, please sing out.
We’ve also got some skills to learn. We have a number of offers for some lathe tuition, personally I would like to be able to operate one of the simple sewing machines, just for straightforward cushion making etc. As we now have some effective dust collection units, that’s probably a possibility now.
Almost last item, we have purchased some decent electric fan heaters to make our winter sessions more comfortable, although we do plan to install a Heat Pump at a later date.
I notice many of us are wearing our Nursling Shed Polo and Sweatshirts, and if anyone else wants one let me or Fred know, and we will place another order.
Finally, I have to say that working with and getting to know you folk is a real pleasure.
Thank you
Graham Gowman
Chairman
Nursling Men's Shed
Receipts and Payments Account for period 1st July 2020 to 30th June 2021
| Income Grants Waitrose Community Fund 333.00 Taylor Wimpey 600.00 Communities First (HCC) 994.00 Communities Connect Fund 1,980.00 Covid 19 Support (TVBC) 17,907.43 Co-op Community Fund 1,498.53 Other Grants 0.00 23,312.96 Subscriptions 768.00 GiftAid 402.34 Projects Bird tables and boxes 250.00 Croquet boxes 200.00 Butler 100.00 Captains Chair 300.00 Churchyard seat 20.00 Other projects 0.00 870.00 Sales Wood 99.00 Other 328.63 427.63 Miscellaneous Donations 140.48 Tea club 25.00 165.48 25,946.41 Expenditure Tools, Equipment and PPE 1,208.31 Building materials 5,566.53 Contractors 1,516.00 Insurance & Subscriptions 259.56 Rent 2,400.00 Energy 200.40 11,150.80 Surplus 14,795.61 25,946.41 |
2019/20 | 2019/20 |
|---|---|---|
| 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 10,000.00 0.00 2,999.00 12,999.00 564.00 0.00 100.00 250.67 0.00 0.00 0.00 498.50 849.17 99.00 271.92 370.92 102.62 87.62 190.24 14,973.33 222.95 2,210.77 2,375.00 341.23 1,800.00 260.79 7,210.74 7,762.59 14,973.33 |
||
| 14,973.33 | ||
| 222.95 2,210.77 2,375.00 341.23 1,800.00 260.79 |
||
| 7,210.74 | ||
| 7,762.59 | ||
| 14,973.33 |
| Nursling Men's Shed Balance Sheet at 30th June 2021 Assets Cash at Bank 20,247.93 Petty Cash 110.27 20,358.20 Prepayment and Accruals Rent in advance 2,200.00 £22,558.20 Liabilities Unrestricted Reserve Fund 7,762.59 Surplus for year 14,795.61 To Restricted Reserve Fund -10,000.00 12,558.20 Restricted Reserve Fund 10,000.00 £22,558.20 Fred Lyon - Hon Treasurer Subject to report of Independent Examiner |
||
|---|---|---|
| 2019/20 | ||
| 5,504.35 58.24 5,562.59 2,200.00 £7,762.59 7,762.59 0.00 £7,762.59 |
||
| £7,762.59 | ||
| 7,762.59 0.00 |
||
| £7,762.59 | ||
Nursling Men’s Shed Accounts for 2021
Independent Examiner’s Report
Currently in preparation by Mr Don Snowsill