Windale Men S Shed & Community Group Inc

Windale Men’s Shed & Community Group Inc.

Presidents Annual Report 2014

Once again projects and the usual shed activities were limited during the early part of the year until about April which is generally the case. Shed days during January were applied to re-cleaning the work place in preparation for the coming year activities as it imperative to properly maintain the work area for the benefit of the equipment and the members. Responsibility for maintaining a central storage area the Hunter Zone’s Men’s Sheds has ceased in conjunction with the relative funding program finishing on June 30. However, as we are still collecting and storing donations of equipment from the community, we will continue to support the needs of other sheds in the Hunter as required. The cost of the central storage shed to the value of $4000.00 per annum is still being donated by Safe ‘N Sound at Kotara, for which we are very grateful. During 2014 we have been able to assist other sheds in the area, Branxton, Mayfield, Newcastle, Wangi, Cardiff, Elermore Vale, West Wallsend and Singleton as an example, by distributing equipment excessive to our needs such as a photo copier, wood lathes, computer monitors/keyboards, small tools, and information pertaining to shed operations etc. The West Wallsend Mercy Shed primarily focuses on assisting men with dementia so our assistance to them is mainly supplying pre-cut timber items for their members to complete, a worthy program for which we should continue to assist. We still also provide systems support to other sheds as requested and have provided information to sheds within and outside of the Hunter area during the year. The following is a short summary of other happenings at the shed during the year:-  Newcastle Permanent delivered a talk on financial planning.  Provided supportive information for reps from Mayfield men’s shed.  Gave presentations about the Windale shed to men’s groups from Charlestown and Belmont.  Hunter Life Education presented to committee members regarding the “Adopt-A-Class” program, a program the shed supports.  Members were presented by a representative of the Organ Tissue Donation program about the need for involvement by members.  Visit by Professor Barry Golding, a patron of the national men’s shed movement, seeking information about the history for this

Shed. He is compiling notes for the publication of a manuscript on men’s sheds.  Eleven members were given the opportunity for First Aid awareness training and CPR/defibrillation demonstration by St John Ambulance personnel, which was very beneficial for all concerned.  Committee members were interviewed for a video promo about our involvement in the International Children’s Games hosted by Lake Macquarie City Council.  Unfortunately we have lost three valuable members this year and all are sadly missed. However and as a result, members decided to design and construct a commemorative garden adjacent to the shed building to both beautify the area and identify and honour our deceased members. It has now developed into a very visual and impressive garden which has ten markers to date and is held in high esteem by all. Thank you to the members who are providing ongoing improvement and maintenance to the garden which is much appreciated. On behalf of the Windale men’s shed and the Hunter Zone, I and other shed members attended a number of meetings during the year at Taree and the Newcastle district and visited several men’s sheds. Some of the sheds visited were located west of the range such as Gulgong, Kandos/Rylstone and Mudgee where we were made very welcome by the members from each location only confirmed what is required by the federal government to retain our charity status, but also was complementary to this organisations position in terms of the level of compliance and data input. Members were very involved again in fund raising programs and other activities relevant to the shed’s vision. We have increased the number of BBQs we do for fund raising purposes and considerably increased the number of projects completed. A very hearty appreciation is expressed to those who continually turned out to assist with these valuable fund raising exercises as the high level of success achieved would not be possible without your enthusiasm and regular help. Accordingly, we have achieved an income in excess of $7000.00 which is a good improvement on the previous year. Additional locations for BBQs are being planned for 2015 so we will be seeking your continued support for this worthy project.

Quite a lot of support has come from the private sector in terms of donations of prizes for our Christmas raffle and materials for some of our projects, thanks to the persistence of Garry, our resident “Radar O’Reilly”. The Christmas raffle has been the best yet for the shed with ticket sales reaching the maximum projection of 4000, injecting approximately $7000.00 into our budget. This far exceeds last year’s raffle income and I extend a special thanks to those members who regularly sold raffle tickets at the shopping centres and markets – well done.

Projects for the shed are a very important and rewarding activity as they not only provide income for the shed but also the hands-on opportunity to continue using existing skills or learning new ones. Donations of usable materials such as timber, paint etc. from the private sector significantly assists in reducing our on-costs and is very much appreciated. We completed 141 projects this year which included 26 shed projects, 79 member projects and 26 external projects. Income from projects was also on the rise this year generating $6,543.00. Projects generating significant income were;-  Lake Macquarie City Council; 110 hand held signs (flags) for the International Children’s Games.  Lake Macquarie City Council; 8 presentation trays for the International Children’s Games.  NEWCASTLE NOW (Newcastle City Council); 24 display boxes in traditional Christmas colours.  Kindy Kapers-Belmont and Mount Hutton; refurbishment and painting of outdoor play equipment and furniture.  Kindy Kapers Mount Hutton; Constructed and installed storage units.  Valentine Pre-school; refurbishment and painting of outdoor play equipment and furniture.  Nazareth Village; Constructed and installed a cupboard for their cooking facilities.  Lake Macquarie Care Service; Constructed and installed a “Bus Stop” post and a bird feeder for the village. Members mentored a youth on student placement program with the shed on each Tuesday of each school week from Lakeside Special Needs School, Gateshead West. Mentoring activities mainly involved small motors where several projects were completed during the project. Other activities throughout the year included weekly tai chi classes for members, which was relocated from the PCYC to the Bowling Club as a cost saving measure. Several health programs were also included during the year. Members were also involved in installing the new security fence around the shed perimeter producing a huge cost saving to the association. The Shed’s web site has been constantly maintained thanks to the assistance of our “happy snapper” Bill for transposing the photos onto the web site. The site among other things identifies and acknowledges the supporters to the shed by category. Quite a number of projects completed by the Shed are shown on the site as well as other information relevant to the Shed. The shed’s relationship with existing partners has been maintained during the year with quite a number of new partnerships coming on board such as Lake Macquarie City Council; Newcastle City Council; Ansen’s Tyre

& Auto; Concrush; Toronto Timbers; Dulux Paints; Allegro Signs (Vehicle/office signage); SRD Kitchens (timber donation) Kindy Kapers Group; Valentine Pre-School; Warners Bay Plaza; Charlestown Square; Kotara Fair and Woolworths Mount Hutton, as an example. Members of the Shed can be available to attend the 2015 Men’s Shed National Conference to be held in Newcastle. The conference can be very informative and I encourage members to be involved by either attending the event or just supporting this shed if we are to become part of the conference program. It also provides opportunities to talk with members of sheds from across Australia and should be very interesting to say the least. We have been selected to host a morning tea for a bus load of delegates from the conference and we look forward to the support from our members on this auspicious occasion. Once again, the association’s financial position was audited this year by Peter Sweeney of JSA Accounting Group, who provided the service at no charge to the association, which is extremely appreciated and further demonstrates the generosity of community organisations towards this Shed and the men’s shed movement in general. The audit report was favourable which allows the committee to continue to manage acceleration toward a stable and productive charitable organisation in terms of viability and companionship.

This being my fourth annual report for the association, I yet again consider it quite inadequate to just say “thanks” to those members who have regularly stepped up to assist where and when required. I would like to express my personal appreciation for the support members and supervisors have given to the shed during the year, with a special mention to those who assist at the administrative (office) level for without their dedicated time managing the shed’s activities we wouldn’t be able to continue at the successful level we have achieved. There is no doubt it is only with the dedication, enthusiasm, skills and comradeship of members that we continue to be a successful and an important place to benefit those in need of a “men’s shed”. Thank you members. A huge thanks also to this year’s management committee and for their involvement in making hard decisions and developing guidelines and procedures during the year. I also thank those who have nominated for positions on the committee for the coming year and wish them the very best. It is essential for the success of the organisation for all committee members to adopt an attitude of responsibility with a view to enhancing the success of the shed just like positive member involvement at all levels goes a long way toward maintaining our accomplishment. My personal thanks go to each of you for a job very well done. Roger Greenan President December 2014