## 1[st] AGM 22[nd] July 2021 Chair Report 

Welcome to everybody for coming to Harlow Community Men’s Shed’s first Annual General Meeting. 

A lot has happened over the last 2-3 years and we are now moving forward into an exciting new phase for the Men’s Shed project with our proposed change of location.  This last year in particular has been challenging with the limitations of Covid-19 and the enforced isolation – especially as one of the main objectives of the Men’s Shed organisation is all about reducing isolation and supporting men within a social network. However, - this meeting hopefully marks the beginning of a return to something nearer to normality. 

This Shed first started as an idea in July 2018 following my enquiry to UKMSA (UK Mens Shed Association) about Men’s Sheds in the Harlow area and I was surprised to learn that there were no local facilities up and running. I was then referred to Clive Emmett from CVSU (Community Voluntary Services Uttlesford ) who was keen to establish a Shed in Harlow within the Essex Shed Network, - so the project was born and I was “volunteered” by Clive for setting it up. 

With much support from CVSU, an empty container shell was located and moved to the Town Park and we had our first ‘opening event’ in March 2019 with various local luminaries and council officials together with prospective members – some of whom formed our core membership. 

Membership grew as we worked together on the container and over a year or so, developed it into a functional workshop with power, water, workbenches, tools and an extended roof covering a paved patio area to enable outside working in all weathers.  We have forged working relationships with several other organisation in Harlow and continue to enjoy being part of a larger Harlow Community – including Rainbow Services, Herts & Essex Community Farm, Canalability and Harlow Soup where we won the vote for a substantial donation and were noticed by Robert Halfon, - our local MP who now supports us and provides considerable support for our enterprise. 

We are now at the limit of what we can achieve with space in the Town Park, - yet membership continues to grow and we need to find bigger premises. 

Our fundraiser, Steve Simmons, has been very pro-active over the last year and has now raised a number of significant donations, located larger, more suitable premises in Great Parndon and is currently negotiating a new lease so that the move can take place this year hopefully – more on that later from Steve. 

In January 2020, we formed a Charity (CIO) in order to facilitate access to more funding and also formed a Board of Trustees.  I have now been involved as lead of the Shed for 2½ 




years and Chair of the Trustees for 18 months and feel that with the new direction, it is now a good time for me to stand down and make way for fresh ideas. 

I will remain a Shed member and look forward to seeing how the project continues to develop over the next year and beyond. 

Martin Wedgwood July 2021 



## HARLOW COMMUNITY MEN’S SHED ACCOUNT APRIL 2021 - MARCH 2022 

|APRIL 2021|0000.01|25.00||25.01|437.60|437.60|8961.37|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|MAY 2021|0000.00|191.00||191.00|||64.24|
|9088.13||||||||
|JUNE 2021|10,322.71|10.00||10,332.71|1539.94|||
|17,880.90||||||||
|JULY 2021|156.31||000.00||156.31|||
|000.00|18,037.21|||||||
|AUGUST 2021|000.05||25.00|25.05||56.75||
|18,005.51||||||||
|SEPTEMBER 2021|000.00||000.00||000.00|||
|426.00|17,579.51|||||||
|OCTOBER 2021|000.00||10.00|10.00||333.48||
|17,256.03||||||||
|NOVEMBER 2021|4650.00|000.00||4650.00||7667.65||
|14,238.38||||||||
|DECEMBER 2021|000.00||000.00||000.00|||
|650.45|13,587.93|||||||
|JANUARY 2022|000.00||72.00|72.00||500.47||
|13,159.46||||||||
|FEBRUARY 2022|2000.00|15.00||2015.00|1747.79|||
|13,149.46||||||||
|MARCH 2022|000.00|||15.00|15.00||4403.01|
|9,038.66||||||||
|YEAR END TOTALS<br>17,129.03|||353.00||17,482.03|||
|17,827.38|9,083.66|||||||