Interim News - Feb 2020

Urgent Actions from Meeting held 4th Feb 2010

At the general meeting today, we discussed our current finances and the funding required to progress the planned move to a new workshop at The Old School house which is a fantastic opportunity for CMS. While we are confident of raising sufficient funding to address the necessary building works, we have a pressing need for funding to cover solicitors costs associated with the (10-year) lease. Without the lease in place, the CMS Trustees are unwilling to commit to any work on the School House that would incur costs to Men's Shed.

Bob Mackinnon stated that he had previously contacted a number of solicitors in the Christchurch area asking if they would be prepared to act on a pro bono basis without success but would speak to the solicitors based in Highcliffe to see if they might be more inclined to assist on a charity project involving the local community.. Assuming we do not get a positive response from the local solicitors, we will be faced with an estimated shortfall in funding of £3,600 including VAT. (It is difficult to obtain funding/grants for intangibles such as operating costs, solicitors fees etc.)

At the present time we have, insuffieient funds to meet this cost despite our significant fund raising initiatives. This will be boosted by membership renewals in April but the Trustees are not comfortable about emptying the coffers completely, as there will no doubt be unplanned/unexpected costs as the project proceeds.

Several suggestions were made regarding funding initiatives however payback would be not short term and will not resolve our immediate problem. We therefore discussed and agreed a proposal to ask our members for a one-off donation in the region of £50 - £100 specifically to contribute towards solicitors costs as the best way forward at the present time.

So that the project is not delayed through lack of funds, we therefore request that any members who wish to support the Old School House Workshop project and who can afford to make a donation do so either by direct payment to the CMS bank account or by cheque payable to Christchurch Men's Shed.

Payments will be anonymous (only CMS Trustees will have access to the details) unless the donor wishes to make the information public.. The paying-in details of the CMS bank account regarding this appeal were recently sent to members by email but please contact me if you would like to donate and did not receiive them. Thank you.

If you have and questions, comments or concerns about this, please contact the CMS Trustees directly or by email to the Christchurch Men's Shed address: [email protected]

New Safeguarding Policy

We have previously been advised by the Charities Commission/UK Men's Shed association that we should have a Safeguarding Policy in place. More recently, we have found that applications for funding also require confirmation that we have a policy in place, understood by and accessible to all members, otherwise we might be precluded from applying for funds.

It is a misconception to think that "Safeguarding" only applies to children - this is not the case and the law applies equally to adults.

Abuse is a violation of an individual’s human and civil rights by another person or persons.

Adult safeguarding is protecting a person’s right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect.

It is not the responsibility of any individual involved in Christchurch Men’s Shed to make judgements regarding whether or not abuse is taking place, however, all Christchurch Men’s Shed members have the responsibility to recognise and identify potential abuse, and act on this if they have concerns. Our policy includes a comprehensive list of potential types of abuse and neglect (Section 3) and how members should respond (Sections 5 onwards)..

Please download and review copy of the Safeguarding Policy from the Downloads page and let me have any comments, concerns or objections by the 14th February 2020, otherwise the CMS Management Committee will deem the policy to have been approved by the members.

In addition to the Policy, we will also need to appoint a Lead Safeguarding Officer. The officer does not need to be a CMS trustee or a committee member. If anyone is interested in this role, please make yourself known to the CMS Management Committee. Thank you.

John Pegram

Christchurch Men's Shed.