Good News…. After much waiting (and gnashing of teeth), we finally have formal planning approval for the ‘change of use’ we needed for our shed on the Latimer Road playing field.
This means that we can now go ahead and sign the lease with Wokingham Council to use the premises for our shed. We will of course need to do some clearing and some minor reparations / adjustments to the internals of the building, but this won’t take too long, and we can now at least get on with things.
In addition to signing the lease for the premises, we now need to formalise the membership of Wokingham Men’s Shed. This is in order to effectively manage Health and Safety, our insurance cost, and of course to be able to collect a modest membership fee, to cover basic costs and materials. Consequently, I will shortly be sending out a membership form to everyone on the list, inviting you all to become formal members.
Membership of Wokingham Men’s Shed will be set at 60 pounds per year. With sufficient members, this should cover our electricity, water and insurance costs for the shed, plus some basic materials. We will be looking to events and charitable donations to help us further. In addition to the annual fees, we will need to charge 2 pounds for the day when a member visits the shed. This is to cover things like tea and biscuits.
These membership fees are in line with other Men’s Sheds across the UK, and I very much hope that they seem fair and reasonable to all of you, so that you’ll feel able to become formal members.
Registered Charity : 1179642. A community workshop for men in Wokingham