Annual Report for Drayton Men’s Shed
This is the Chair’s report for Drayton Men’s Shed for the year 2024.
Firstly a big thank you to all our members who have made this year such a success. You are the reason we exist and by providing a place for you to meet and carry out the activities you enjoy we not only, hopefully help you, but we have also provided very successful projects for the community.
In May we achieved CIO (Charity Incorporated Organisation) status which was a significant milestone and will allow us to gain easier access to grants etc. But as a charity we must also follow the rules and ensure our finances remain sound.
Membership is very good considering we don’t advertise. With our current facilities we are probably near our limit. We don’t want to turn any one away but if we gain too many more members the we may have to restrict numbers at each session on safety grounds. We have 24 members with 10 to 15 regularly attending when we are open. Members come from a wide area and have been referred to us via a number of the health support agencies which shows we are gaining a reputation in a good way. The need for the Men’s Shed has been well demonstrated all we need are larger facilities.
To that end we have developed plans to build a Shed in the grounds of the Church of the Resurrection. We submitted a pre-planning application in March but did not receive any response until September. The response was not discouraging and the full application was submitted in September and acknowledged in October. On the planning departments timescale we should have received an answer by mid December but this has come and gone. We have chased and each time a new issue has been raised but hopefully we are near the end of the process. permission has been submitted for the building of a shed in the grounds of the Church of the Resurrection. If successful we will then need to apply for a Faculty from the church authorities which will be an agreement on how and the conditions under which we lease the land. It is only once these steps have been completed that we will be able to successfully apply for grants to get the shed built. We know the Council and the Church are supportive but we will need other grants as well if we are to develop a long term facility in the way we would like.
As part of the new shed project we held an open afternoon at the Church of the Resurrection. This was very successful although it has stirred up one or two of the neighbours who have the wrong idea about what we hope to achieve.
The Shed has been very busy in community and local projects and our reputation has spread in a good way. So what have we been doing. A number of mud kitchens, planters and bird boxes have been made and delivered to customers. We have also decorated the main room in the Highbury Community Centre which was much appreciated. We have constructed some raised beds for Portsmouth Allotments form wood supplied by them. We have made and installed a new noticed board for Drayton Community Centre, again much appreciated. We have also made hedgehog houses, a facility of tortoises and a couple of bin storage facilities. Well done to all and the donations from these projects helps with our funds. And let’s not forget the gardeners who won prizes and a cup for their excellent Sweet Peas at the Farlington Garden Show.
Well done to all and let us move forward in 2025 towards a new shed in Drayton.
INCOME & EXPENDITURE YEAR 2024 2023 Incorne 2024 2023 Ex nditure 2024 £1,372.51 Donations £150.00 £1,372.51 Insurance £272.05 Subscriptions Goods Sales £287.50 £687.37 £1.103.39 Services £814.79 Pety Cash Cash In Hand £435.00 £21.45 £10.25 £1.986.14 £1,774.21 Balance (Deficit) or Credit £211.93 BALANCE SHEET 2023 ET 2024 202 NDS & LIABILITIES 2024 £1,372.51 Current A¢Unt £1.574.19 £1,393.96 Carried from 2023 £1.393.96 £21.45 Cash in Hand £31.70 Income over Expenditure £211.93 £1,393.96 £1,605.89 £1.393.96 £1,605,89 Independ•ntly Examlned Treasurer: Approved.. Chamian". J Oakes Examined by C Batstone M BRADY