Author: WMSAdmin

Following protracted negotiations with Wokingham Borough Council we are finally OPEN for business.

From 22nd October 2019, the shed will be open Tuesdays and Fridays. We are hoping to be open from 10:00am until 4:00pm but this will depend on having Duty Mangers available to open up and supervise. Tea and Coffee will be available all day but we’re short of mugs so bring your own!

Donations of machine tools, hand tools and materials will be most welcome but please only leave things with us during opening hours. If you have things to donate and cannot get to the shed or would like us to collect, let us know either by email donations@wokinghammensshed.org.uk or telephone 0118 391 4331. We cannot always answer the phone but please leave a message and we’ll get back to you.

I’d like to invite everyone to a meeting, on Wednesday 25th September at 2pm at The Cornerstone, Norreys Ave, Wokingham RG40 1UE.

Please mark your diaries, and while we already have a number of people on the email list who have signed up to be formal WMS members, please would you bring along your completed membership application form if you want to sign up on the day. 

Also, if you’d like to encourage a friend to come along, please do so, as we are still open to prospective additional members.

The agenda for the meeting will be:

1. Latest update on moving in to our shed in the Latimer Road Pavilion
2. Call for membership – forms and sign-up
3. Call for volunteers to help clean up and prepare the shed for opening
4. AOB

The meeting will end at 3pm. After the meeting we will invite all WMS members to join the management team in a visit to the shed itself, to see the location and inside of the premises. This will involve travelling from the Cornerstone to the Latimer Road Pavilion.

I look forward to seeing you all on the 25th.

Cheers
Ron

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.

We applied for and have now been granted Charity Status by The Charity Commissioners.

Our registered number is 1179642 and a copy of our registration certificate can be downloaded here:  Registration Certificate

Our search for suitable premises continues and it is hoped this change in status will help boost our efforts.

If you have or know of any workshop space/buildings which is not being used, we would be happy to explain how we can help reduce the costs for the owner by paying the business rates, maintaining the structure and deter unwanted guests.

Alternatively if you know of or have some land we can site a temporary building on we would be delighted to talk to you as well.

Email chairman@wokinghammensshed.org.uk

or

call us on 0118 391 4331 and leave a voicemail.

Another meeting has been arranged for 22nd August 2018.  We will be discussing progress, introducing the Management team and answering question.

All are welcome.

Venue:   De Vite Room, 1st Floor,  The Cornerstone, Norreys Ave  RG40 1UE

Time:  2:30pm  Tea/Coffee will be available from 2:15pm.

A meeting was held on the 6th June and 15 people attended.

Presentations were made by Tony Smith-Crallan, a UK Mens Shed Association (UKMSA) Ambassador, Brian Cooke, a UKMSA Trustee and board member and a local member Ron Baillie. There was some good discussion and it was agreed to hold a second meeting on 4th July 2018. It will take place in  the same venue and same start time (Cornerstone, 2:30pm).

A number of possible sites for a shed were discussed and Ron is actively pursuing them.

A poster for the next meeting can be downloaded here:

Men Sheds Poster 03

Pease distribute widely.

If you are interested, come along and bring a friend.

Our first meeting organised!

You can download a copy of this poster here -> Men Sheds Poster 02

and you are welcome to display it where you like.

It is proposed to hold a meeting in early June 2018 to guage interest in forming a Men’s Shed in Wokingham.  As soon as a time and venue are aranged we will post details here.

There is already a very successful Shed in Reading called The Silvers’ Workshop (see: www.thesilversworkshop.org.uk). This was started by the Earley Charity in February 2014 and now has over 60 members and a very comphensive set of tools for working metal and wood.  It is based in Northcot in Reading which is over 10 miles and 33 sets of traffic lights from the centre of Wokingham.  We think it is time to start one a bit closer!

If you are intereted and would like to help please contact  Ron orTony

 

email: ron@wokinghammensshed.org.uk  or tony@wokinghammensshed.org.uk

Telephone: 0118 391 4331