Shed Survey Results June 2022
When the payment reminders were emailed, members were offered the opportunity to tell the committee about their preferences and wishes. This was done with the aim to better understand our community and guide the committee in planning the future. A total of 17 responses were received.
The following is a summary of questions asked and the responses received.
Q. Not renewing?
Tell us why you are not renewing - eg. Cannot afford it, Find no value, Moved, Health etc.
One member indicated that he would not renew because: “Reason is that I was disappointed with the handling of Covid last year where a few members were alienated because of their personal opinions on immunisation. I was one who was asked to be identified as non vaccinated. I wrote a letter at the time to the secretary and never received a response. Not good enough.”
The rest of the responses were from members who indicated that they will renew their membership.
Q. What more would you like to see
Nothing
Not a lot I can think of. The shed has covered my interests pretty well.
Thanks, happy to be part of the group.
I'm happy with the Men's Shed as it is!
We have so much fantastic equipment that is under-utilised. It seems our members in general prefer meetings and have little interest in manual use of equipment. We have great teachers like Cam, Allan, Peter (Lazer) and Brian but no interest?
A 'show and tell' where members show the clever stuff they have done over the last week or two
Fitness morning walks
Social outings, visits to other clubs, places of interest
We need to have more activities like social outings, a walking group , bike riding group, outings to other sheds, pool competitions, guest speakers , a music group. I know it was tried to start up some of these activities in the past but with a larger membership now maybe there might be more interest now.
More educational talks and discussions and less emphasis on fundraising.
I would like to see more interaction between regular members, in particular new members ( like what was their previous or current occupation or employment, if they want to ? We all could learn more about each other and it makes for good conversation without being too personal.
My little bit in response to the survey results
I am delighted by the responses received and thank you to every person who has responded, it is the first step in creating an even better environment for yourself and the rest of the members.
I also wish to make use of the opportunity to put some thoughts out into the open.
This feedback provides you with some of the general feeling amongst members and should empower you to hold the committee to task regarding the preferences of the members.
You should also consider that it puts a responsibility on the committee and members alike to take charge and contribute towards the betterment of our community of shedders. We need as much initiative as possible.
I personally wish to apologise to the member who was alienated and, in particular, that there was no response to his letter, I hope that we can make amends.
To those members who said they just want to be members without participating in much, I answer: “You are one hundred percent welcome, if the connection only offers you something valuable, then make use of it. Come to the Christmas function at least.”
What strikes me in the responses is the large number of members who want to learn new things. This, of course, is not specific but should prompt members to bring some ideas to the table as well as grab the opportunities offered.
Considering that there is a large proportion of members who would like to learn to use the laser cutter, I offered a few weeks ago to show and guide interested members to design and cut a jigsaw puzzle and an accompanying cardboard box on the laser - I had one person interested! Did I fail to clearly communicate the message or am I misinterpreting the survey results?
What is also striking is the large number of members who would like to do things to benefit other members and the broader community. This is very encouraging and will require some creative thinking as to how to tap into this interest. I dare to say that the committee should devise a way to harness this and get the interested members on board.
The popularity of Rod’s Monday lunches is on par with the popularity of the books library. I’d like to know whether this constitutes a concoction, sorry, connection.
The meetings are obviously important to a large number of members and those not attending miss a lot of information about what is happening and what is on offer at the shed. It would be interesting to hear from you, what you get from the meetings and what we could do to enhance the meetings to encourage more members to attend
The cup of coffee also ranked very high and maybe we should think about ways in which we can enhance the experience.
There were strong voices indicating that there is a desire for more social activities. I challenge members to step forward and offer to organise such events. First thing that comes to mind is a pool tournament, is there maybe a member that would offer to organise it. We could then automatically enter every pool (able) bodied member in the tournament, send out the schedule and have fun.
There was a comment that there should be less emphasis on fundraising. I think that we should take that comment on board as I have heard it from another member as well. However, considering that the funds we raise make it possible to offer very reasonable membership fees, we cannot avoid continuing to pursue that. I guess, what we could do is elevate other activities in order to diminish the prominence of the fundraising. I am also postulating that members who are not physically able to participate in fundraising may perceive that they are not viewed as valuable as those who do. My response to this is that, if you do not have the physical, mental or other capacity to do it, then that does not reduce your value to the shed. There are many, many other ways in which you can contribute and I can give many examples of that - maybe in the future…