Steve Stone, Treasurer and Media Officer for the Harden Murrumburrah Men’s Shed, had a chat with Robyn Atherton about their upcoming raffle for Mother’s Day at the Shed.
“The raffle prize is a patchwork quilted wall hanging (donated by Lesley Dopson – President, Len Dopson’s wife), plus a crocheted blanket (crocheted by member Kathy Nadycz) and a $60 voucher kindly donated by The Ohana Collection to use in the store”.
What will the Men’s Shed do with the proceeds of the raffle?
“The proceeds of the raffle will go into the general fund so we can continue to operate. We don’t get funding from anyone. We raise money through raffles and with our subscriptions, which we try to keep low, but sufficient to cover insurance. The insurance covers the people who come here and the equipment.
“We have a lease on this place, so there are the general upkeep costs and utilities to pay for, on top of the rent. We find we run at a short fall each year of about $2,000 and in recent years we have covered that figure with some reserves that we have, but we don’t want to get to the point where we have used up all our reserves and have nothing to fall back on. So, that’s why we have raffles to cover our costs and help us to do things in the community.”
Is there any chance that the property could be purchased from the railway?
“We haven’t really explored that. We have a 5 x 5 lease up for renewal next year – whether we would look at that then, I don’t know. It is a fairly large area that is leased to us and suits our needs for the time being – and we don’t know what plans ARTC has for this place. We are responsible for the general upkeep of the whole site.”
Any major projects that the Men’s Shed is working on?
“No, but we are doing jobs for people, such as restoring a garden setting for a lady, a couple of chairs that people want done. We have been given an old kitchen dresser that one of our members, Len Dopson, is restoring – he has expertise in that sort of thing.
“We try to get things that we can raffle – one member is making beanies which we aim to have for sale when we hold our winter firewood raffle. That’s the next job, wood cutting!
“Currently, a new member is making boot cleaner scrapers with brush sides. People use them on their boots when coming in from the farm and sheds to avoid bringing mud into the house. The scrapers are made from scrap metal, and we have purchased scrubbing brushes from the hardware store. We might sell some of them down at Which Craft, or put them on Marketplace.”
How is the membership going?
“We have about 25 financial members – that keeps us going – we have to have a minimum of 15 for insurance purposes. We do lose members occasionally, but we have had a couple of new people come into town who have joined the Men’s Shed.
“The raffles give us a street presence and bring awareness to people about the Men’s Shed.
“We are selling the Mother’s Day raffle tickets outside Supabarn on Neill Street in Harden on Tuesday 21st and 28th of April and the 5th of May”.
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