Presidents Message 2022

Dear Shedders and friends of Men’s Sheds of WA

I am delighted to offer the Christmas greetings to all shedders in my first term as President.

I must firstly recognise with thanks, the contribution outgoing President Trevor Taylor made in his six years of office. Trevor was presented with a testimonial that recognised his many achievements including the development of nearly 200 sheds in WA, the oversight and appointment of our outstanding CEO James Wild and his support team, the encouragement of programs for the benefit of all sheds and the management of the Board and regional participation in the governance of Men’s sheds of WA.

I recognise the contribution of our team of Jaxon, Rebecca and our newest appointment of Rebecca Talbot. They are very dedicated and provide great service to the sheds. I must also recognise the contribution of Richards McAllister as our Chaplain and Bill Johnstone our Vice Patron.

With Trevor Taylor’s retirement our Board has been bolstered by the election of Max Puddey at the recent AGM. Max is the founding Chairman of the new Lake Monger Community Shed and comes to us with incredible commercial experience.

Going into 2023, I believe that our organisation is in the strongest shape in its history. That said, we have a number of opportunities and challenges that we will continue to work on. We will look to further secure and diversify our funding. A sustainable and balanced income is required to meet our overheads and will enable the team to grow the programs that we have started. This will also help us to secure address necessary operational needs; a headquarters to enable our team to work together and vehicles to allow our team to better service sheds.

Looking to the needs of the sheds, we know that consideration needs to be given to an ageing shed membership. Sheds have expressed their concern over what the future holds. Specifically how we engage younger members, including those that may not be interested in woodwork and metalwork. This is also relevant to our more senior members who may no longer able to do the traditional woodwork or metal work activities.

I am very confident that Men’s Sheds of WA will continue to develop and will strive to provide positive services to our member sheds.

My best wishes to all shedders and their families at Christmas and hope that the New Year brings happiness to all.

Trevor Gorey OAM
President