This week at the Shed -28 January 2010

Hello everyone

Today's meeting started off with the usual cup of tea and biscuits and there were lots of Happy New Year greetings to be heard.

1. We had a good number of sheddies turn up to listen to Jenny Rains, WCC Manager of Grants Funding to give a presentation on the 'ins and outs' of what's involved, from applying for funds, to reporting back to the funder on progress made and everything else in between!

Jenny has offered to assist in any way she can in explaining processes and is happy to have open discussion with the group or individuals on ways ahead, down to filling in applications.

The link below will take you to the General Grants page, where you can find information about the Grants process and when the rounds open for application.

http://www.wellington.govt.nz/services/grants/pdfs/instructions/general-guide.pdf

Once into this page, click on 'application guide' in the General Grants box and scroll down to the bottom of page 2 to the Social Pool for further information.

2. An informal discussion then took place and it was agreed that a closer liaison was required between the Committee and the Sheddies, so that everyone was privy to meetings and agendas and were able to contribute topics for discussion. The Committee extended an invitation to any member of the shed who would like to attend any future meetings and it was suggested that a paper trail of the meetings be available to members to be kept in the loop.

There will be a meeting at the Shed next Wednesday, 10am with the Steering Group and Committee. Those sheddies who wish to, are also welcome to attend.

This meeting has been called to discuss where we are at with the funding (we have under 6 months before reports are due to our funders) and any other topics up for discussion.

I am putting together an Agenda for this meeting, so if you intend to be present, please let me know by Monday at the latest, any items you wish to be discussed. If it's not on the Agenda you'll have to wait for the next meeting to air the topic!

3. Ruth Collingham, who is a Board Member of Volunteer Wellington has offered her services to speak with the group. Ruth has assisted many emerging groups on how to get up and running, providing information on putting in place good management practises and processes to suit both committee and members alike. I will advise when Ruth may be available to visit with us.

4. Liz Barrett from Refugee Services also dropped in to see what items needed to be collected and to extend a big thank you to everyone involved in the repair of the furniture, (especially Colin who has been looking after the electrical repairs) which assists greatly in resettling refugee families as they arrive in Wellington.

5. Steve advised that he has spoken to the Manager at Bunnings and the community projects will be starting up again in the next week or two after the Xmas break, so as soon as Bunnings get in contact we will have some hands on work to pump out. Steve also collected about 20 outdoor chairs which are shop damaged and brought them along to the shed to see if we can repair or make use of them.

6. Stuart kindly collected the safety gear for us, so we are now better equipped. Thanks Stuart!

I hope we've captured all the discussions of today to keep you informed, apologies if I have missed something out.

Till next time!

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