This has been a difficult year for the Oakley Men’s Shed. We have been in lockdown since April, but opening in September with just six members who had to book online to get a place.
We have been very lucky that our Shed uses the local Scout premises. They have been in total lockdown, but that allowed the Shed to leave all their machinery in place in the main Scout hall. This meant members could contact the committee and, if they required wood that we had a large stock of, the member could accompany a committee member to open the Shed, get the wood they required, and use the machinery to cut it down to size to make up at home.
A virtual Christmas shop on our web site has been a great success, raising £400 in the first week.
This has been very successful in keeping members in contact with one another. We also have a Zoom meeting once a week to discuss any issues members want to raise. It normally ends with lots of banter and stories from the past. Not what the family want to hear at Christmas.
[ Written on 27 November 2020] We have a Christmas Fayre organised in the local pub car park on the 5th December, unless the rules change. We also set up a virtual Christmas shop on our web site oakleymensshed.com that has been a great success, raising £400 in the first week. We have a member who acts as the local Prime delivery service.
We have 24 members at present and, although we haven’t charged our members the yearly subscription, half have paid 50% of the normal charge that shows the commitment of the members.
[10 December 2020] The Oakley Men’s Shed Christmas Fayre did go ahead even though it was very cold. We made over £300 plus a donation from a resident of £120. This means our total Christmas sales from our Virtual Christmas Online Shop and stall made over £1,000. This will make a big difference to our overall funds for next year’s projects.
Let’s pray for a better year next year. Kind Regards Eric Askew
Chair: Oakley Men’s Shed