Petersfield Men's Shed

On Thursday 14th October, we held our first physical Petersfield Men’s Shed members’ meeting. 17 members attended and 3 non-members also came along and promptly joined. We were delighted by the attendance and proves that there is a need for a Men’s Shed in Petersfield.

Discussions included:

• Updating on our premises situation
• What the ideal premises would look like
• What members want from the Shed
• What members can bring to the Shed
• Format, style, regularity, and location of meetings before we get premises
• Type of projects we can work on now (without premises)
• Offer to discuss/ join the management committee

We agreed to hold a regular monthly meeting, the next being Thursday 18th November, again at the Half Moon pub in Sheet, at 2.30pm. The purpose of the meeting is to further update on the premises situation and socialise. It was also suggested that (for this next and future meetings) members would:

• Look out for and bring possibilities for any premises or land to investigate
• Bring ideas for practical local projects we could engage in without premises
• Bring along small personal projects that we could perhaps help with

A suggestion for future meetings was that we could also meet at members own personal sheds in rotation. Whilst everyone appreciated not every member will have a shed and of those that have, these will inevitably be small, it will be interesting to visit the range we do have amongst us and again, members could further support personal practical projects in that member’s “back yard”.

We should also include discussions regarding funding opportunities (when we get premises), ideal equipment and tools, scavenging and organised trips to engineering, electronic, carpentry, plastic moulding, construction, etc companies, dock yards and the like.

I think we all agreed, this was a great start for Petersfield Men’s Shed, but the onus will be on all of us to keep the positive momentum going. If we all do a small bit towards the Shed, it will thrive. Thank you to everyone.

Steven Watts
Chairman

We are delighted to announce that membership to the newly formed Petersfield Men’s Shed is now open. Membership forms can be found here. These can be either completed online, or printed off and posted to the Membership Secretary.

Membership initially costs just £10 for a year, increasing to £50 when we secure a permanent home shed and workshop. Until then, we shall meet socially on a regular basis, starting at the Half Moon Pub, Sheet. Our first social meeting will be on Thursday 14th October, starting at 2.30pm in the afternoon.

These are not formal meetings and are more social. However, as well as introductions and starting to get to know each other we should also discuss:

• Possible local sites/ unused buildings for our permanent shed/ workshop,
• Opportunities to use member’s existing sheds for small projects,
• Local community support and project ideas, not requiring a workshop,
• What you want from the Shed and what you can contribute,
• Joining and supporting the management committee.

If you have any great ideas, please bring them and share.

Members of the existing management committee will be there, and we welcome all new members to come and say hello. Do please join us if you can.

Steven Watts, Chairman

The management committee would like to invite you to a live online Zoom meeting to hear about the work we have been doing over the past 18 months to create a Men’s Shed here in Petersfield.

You will meet the committee members who will explain the developments that have taken place and more importantly the type of men’s shed and the projects we have planned.

Gerry Johnson the UK Men’s Sheds Association Ambassador and Chair of Hayling Island Men’s Shed will present an overview of local and national men’s sheds.

We will be using the Zoom chat function for you to ask questions as discussions are taking place and hopefully there will be an opportunity for some of these to be answered at the meeting. We will also be recording the meeting so that we can answer all questions and feedback the answers on our website.

Anyone who is interested in joining the meeting please contact us. We will then email you a Zoom link invite before the meeting that will enable you to join us for the meeting on Tuesday, 27 July from 6:00 PM so that we can start prompt at 6.30PM.

I and the team look forward to meeting you then.

Steven Watts, Chairman

We are building a community space for men to connect, converse and create.

I cannot believe it is now over a year since we launched Petersfield Men’s Shed! However, whilst the management team have been very busy setting everything up, due to the pandemic restrictions, we have yet to find a permanent premises, start proper meetings or accept members. But hopefully, from July and the end of restrictions, that is all about to change.

What have we done;

• We have become a charity
• We have gained some funding from generous sponsors
• We are currently in discussions to lease an excellent premises in the centre of Town
• We have a web site and Facebook page
• We have received over 100 expressions of interest to become members
• We are currently surveying what practical skills and interests potential members have
• We have all the necessary policies, procedures, and insurances in place

What’s next;

Saturday July 3^rd July – 9am to 3pm – Market, Petersfield Square

Come, meet, and chat to members of the management team and see if Petersfield Men’s Shed is for you.

Tuesday 27^th July – 7.30pm – Zoom Open Meeting

Open forum with short presentations from the management team and guests, Q&A (using Chat facility), and hopefully your inputs.

Future;

Obviously, we would rather launch with our premises, but in the meantime, if the restrictions continue to ease, we feel we should start to enrol members anyway, meet in temporary venues and start working on small local projects. So do please come and meet us and let’s get Petersfield Men’s Shed going, together.

Steven Watts, Chairman

What with more Covid lockdowns and a new virus strain, unfortunately all our plans for a proper “face to face” launch meeting this year have again had to be postponed. It will happen, now probably in Spring 2021 even if we have a digital version via Zoom or similar. Everyone who has already expressed interest in joining us will be invited and a media campaign will run to promote it to other potential members. Please keep an eye on the news and further web site updates.

With regards premises, we may have some very exciting news early in the new year! We are currently in discussions to lease a building in the Town centre; all on one level with lots of usable space. It will need work to convert to workshops and social space but would be a fabulous first real project together as a Shed.

In October, we were delighted to have been awarded Grant funding for the initial equipment to kit out a Shed workshop from East Hampshire District Council; our thanks go to Cllr Robert Mocatta for his support for our development.

The management team are now working on an application for the Petersfield Men’s Shed to become a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). Becoming a charity will not only have local and social benefits but will help us financially with potential funding opportunities.

As you can see, in spite of Covid, Petersfield Men’s Shed is very much alive and we look forward to 2021 and becoming a proper functioning Shed.

Steven Watts

Chairman