March Newsletter 2026 Part One

1. Welcome to March’s newsletter. Will it ever stop raining? It hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm of our Shedders though, coming in and getting on with their various projects which is what it is all about. It is appreciated that the workshops are not warm places to work at times and am sure that it puts some members off calling in. As am sure you know we are investigating exterior cladding for the building to retain what heat we have. It is beyond our financial reach, however we have applied to the National Lottery Community Fund to assist. The application was submitted if February, and we have been advised that any decision will take about twelve weeks. So, fingers crossed. We do have other veins of income which include ‘easyfundraising’ and the HBC weekly lottery. Although the take up is small with the lottery, you can see from the graphic that we are doing well considering. The donations would be greater if more members were able to make a weekly commitment of even just a £1:00 for a ticket to boost our returns, based on the number of tickets held by members. We have also had several winners in the membership. Remember any winnings stay with the ticket holder and WMS receives funds based on the number of tickets held. This could be your lucky year!. WMS is also registered with ‘easyfundraising so if you are planning a holiday this year ‘easyfundraising’ will make a donation to WMS Did you know that hundreds of travel companies including TUI, Booking.com, Lastminute.com, Haven Holidays, Expedia, Thomas Cook and Hotels.com will all donate money to our Shed when you and our supporter’s book with them? When someone supporting our Shed books a holiday, the company they book with will send our Shed a free donation as a thank you.

2. On Thursday 19th Feb members of WMS and Age Concern gathered in the Age Concern Wolfson room in Padnell Road to celebrate the life of Haydn Davies. About thirty attended, sharing a buffet with teas and coffees with Audrey and Graham his son. Dave Allport, our secretary, read an account of the visits and experiences he and Jennie his wife had shared with Haydn and Audrey during the past year. Catering was organised by Peter Sanders with teas and coffees arranged by Liz Woods who was the previous Age Concern centre manager. A big thank you to both for making the afternoon go so smoothly. The gathering held a silent reflection before toasting Haydn with a bite sized piece of Millionaires Shortbread, which was almost the only thing he would eat as his health deteriorated. If anyone, who couldn’t attend, wishes to read the account of Haydn, let me know and I can pass you a copy.