Reaching out in Measured Ways

We start with a message of greeting and support from Whitby Town Shed.

Welcome to the World of Sheds

A warm welcome from Whitby Town Shed and congratulations on your new venture. As a new member of the big Shed family and a Shed plant from Whitby district, Norton Shed will find that from now on things just start getting better and better.

I look forward to meeting with you all soon in real life or on Zoom.

Visit https://whitbysheds.co.uk/industrious-sheds/ to read my Shed story and to see why I am enthusiastic for Sheds which have done me a lot of good.

Best wishes

Rob (Facilitator at Whitby Town Shed)

PS I am pleased to help you get started by being one of your first year trustees.

What’s the purpose of this web-site?

It’s a bit like a Swiss Army knife, serving different purposes.

1. It has already been a tool (before the Shed has met) of being something around which the Shed (the people beginning to meet) can gather round. It is intended to be a “shop window” into the style of activity that will go on as well as the atmosphere.
   1. A serious side reflected on the back of the postcard in the previous blog.
   2. A fun side typified by friendship and banter (a bit of pantomime!)
   3. A learning side – sharing our interests and both learning and teaching
   4. Something with windows looking out
   5. Active in solving issues together (like setting up the Shed physically)
   6. Active in connecting with other community groups
2. It is a target marker for people looking for some creative distraction to combat their “loss”
   1. It is about awareness of Shed existence rather than being a full on recruitment tool.
   2. It is a way for people to see what they might get from the Shed and how they might benefit the Shed’s operation
   3. It is a way for other community groups and appropriate agencies to follow what is going on
   4. It is a way to show how the Shed happily works with organisations (involving them) in introducing people who might find the activity beneficial to their wellbeing.
3. It carries Norton Shed’s account of its history (short as it is) and its inheritance of help from others
   1. The adventure of the project because of its inherent uncertainty. It is not a common interest group (like a bowls club or embroidery group) but something that is as dynamic as people are.
   2. The connections that can happen beyond Norton’s borders.

Will there be a Facebook page?

Possibly, but the objective is to meet face to face, working shoulder to shoulder regularly in person or at times over Zoom. Seeing is important.

The Barber

In fact, barberess. Barbers are places where conversations take place (shorter than in ladies hairdressers). Unsurprisingly, Graham veers to Sheds for conversation. Today the barberess remembered Graham had moved from Whitby area and slowly recalled Graham mentioning Sheds at one of his two previous clips.

She offered to put up a poster about Norton Shed or display some fliers. Based on what has been written above, Graham explained it wasn’t a case of advertising to recruit. Better for her to have a few Norton Shed postcards in the drawer to give to any man who may be “at a loss”.

Brilliant interest in the barber’s chair and also at Norton Library where there will be an attended display hopefully in February.

Norton Sports Charity premises – a project for our project

What’s to do?

Decoration is a good team effort that with several hands can rapidly transform the tired look. Brushes, rollers, rollers on poles, some filling, some sanding and so forth. We’ll photograph the (impressive) progress. Gary will provide instruction.

But whilst it would be good for many to lend a bit of a hand, there is woodwork in the form of the external smoking shelter to be done (which can be made inside for assembly) and basically the artists could set up there (nice to have some sketches of Shedders at work – is that what they call still life?).

Maybe there’s some handcraft, a game of dominoes or some wood carving.  We’ll go with the flow, as they say.

Definitely there will be tea brewing and coffee in the making with some ginger nut biscuits!

There is broadband available and we might be able to call in on other Sheds at some stage. Plenty of YouTube videos to watch if we connect in a monitor.