Hello All From the Colden Common Shedders in Hampshire…
I hope all are keeping safe and well. As we all know 2020 has been a difficult year. I’ve really missed not being able to attend the Shed as much this year.
I love doing Christmas, it’s a really creative time of the year for all. Usually we attend a Christmas cathedral market for our festivities but, due to the pandemic, it ended up being cancelled in our local town.
So I thought, well I don’t want to be beaten by this, I still wanted to do the Christmas event… to fly a flag for our Shed, let people know we’re still here,and spread a little joy after the year we’ve all had. So, I approached two members of the Shed – Tony and Graham – and said I’d like to do Christmas 2020. They looked at me over their glasses like wise owls and laughed 😆 only if you’re going to be the organiser…
I agreed. As you can imagine creative juices were flowing….. There was a real problem which kept coming up for me over the summer months leading up to Christmas. In our insurance there’s a rule that two people must be present at all times because of health and safety and I found that members weren’t staying long enough for me to make pieces as they were busy with other life commitments. Also, most of our members were staying safe and self-isolating. So I approached Tony as a Shedder and explained the problems I was having. He said “Come over to mine and we can work out of my garage and garden.”
The shed has been a great support to me, helping me the past couple of years through a divorce and life events that have happened in my life.
The rules were I had to wear a face mask at all times and gloves and keep our distance. “And you’re not allowed in the house…… only the cats are allowed in.” 😂😂🐱 I was happy with that; grateful I had somewhere to do some woodwork. Christmas making commenced. There were a few long days. Tony’s wife Angie was brilliant – she brought me homemade soup a couple of times. So there I was sitting on the garage floor eating my soup and bread… I have to say she’s a very good cook. She did come up with some ideas for the Charity Christmas Pop-up shop as well.
Thank you to Tony, Angie, Graham and Pete – I wouldn’t have achieved what I did for Christmas without them.
You can do things when you work together, socially distanced and face-masked, and a home garage can help too.
The Shed has been a great support to me, helping me the past couple of years through a divorce and life events that have happened in my life. As a lady member I would recommend joining a Shed, It really does help with mental health and wellbeing for men and women, I’ve enjoyed being part of something in the community and making things. I recommend it for others. anyway. 😍
I have attached some photos of what we’ve achieved and we are selling now on our Colden Common Shed Facebook Page.
Well, I just wanted to share with the Men’s Shed Association and everyone our story in the hope that it shows you can do things when you work together, socially distanced and face-masked, and a home garage can help too.
Tools down for now🔨 Take care, keep safe – Hannah Jeneway The Colden Common Shed