President’s Message 2021

Dear Shedders and friends of Men’s Sheds of WA

I am sure that you will agree with me when I say that one of the highlights of the year for Men’s Sheds of WA has been the appointment of Bill Johnstone as our Vice Patron, in recognition of his many years of contribution to the Men’s Shed movement in WA. Bill’s support to the community has also been recognised by the City of Fremantle’s Senior Citizen of the Year Award.

We have had another busy year delivering on our Strategic Plan. The team has been working hard to support WA’s Men’s Sheds and to achieve our combined goals for the Men’s Sheds movement.

We have many achievements that we are thankful for; including the new Small Grants Program for Sheds (supported by Lotterywest) and Men’s Sheds of WA’s selection to deliver the Federal Governments Regional Health Coordinator initiative. We can’t also forget the update of our website and branding, helping move your state association into a new phase.

Throughout the year, we have been celebrating and acknowledging the achievements of the Men’s Sheds; our State Conference, ten regional and metro Zone Meetings AMSA’s Long Lunch, new shed openings, a new location for Wheelchairs for Kids amongst many others.

We are humbled that we have been fortunate to have lived this past year without the traumas experienced by many other States and Territories. Our thoughts have gone out to our Eastern neighbours as they’ve experienced lock downs and restrictions as well as floods and natural disasters.

There are many events that have taken place all over the State and we must give thanks that we have been blessed to be able to carry these out in relative openness and safety. Our conduct of the zone meetings continues to be well received by Sheds and Shedders and we are working on how to keep them relevant and informative also on how to make them more accessible to anyone that wishes to attend even out of their zone.

We continue to work with government departments and other peak bodies to provide up to date information on COVID and vaccinations. We appreciate that vaccination status of members is a concern for many, if not all, Sheds and will become even more so in 2022. We ask that WA Sheds support the push to get people vaccinated to protect other members their families and communities through the state government’s Roll Up campaign https://rollup.wa.gov.au/.

Your Board Members and the team of James Wild, Jaxson Ashley, Rebecca Herbener, Bill Johnstone, Bob Coventry and Richard McAllister have contributed to another successful year in 2021. We have continued to meet bi-monthly by Zoom to remain updated in the organisation’s operations and strategic direction. We are also planning on the development of a WA ‘ShedQuarters’, a head office space for Men’s Sheds of WA and a display facility for WA Sheds… (watch this space).

Congratulations must go to our independent Board Member and Secretary, David McMullen who has been elected as Mayor of Subiaco.

To everyone who has invited the Men’s Sheds of WA Board, Volunteers and Officers to take part in the events and milestones at your Sheds, we feel grateful to be welcomed. We are not always able to attend, but we do appreciate the invitations and endeavour to attend where we can.

Please have a happy Christmas with those you care about and may the new year be good to you.

 

Trevor Taylor
President, Men’s Sheds of WA