If you missed the opportunity of the sold out Scottish Men’s Sheds Association national online conference on the 21st January 2021 you can now enjoy an edited version of the first half of the conference.
Big thanks for all the Sheds input, Tim Green (Age Scotland Men’s Shed Development Officer), Dr Dani Kelly (Glasgow Caledonian University), Maurice Corrie (Cross party Armed Forces & Veterans Chairman and MSP) and our SMSA Trustees.
Listen to how the Sheds have fared over the last 10 months of the Pandemic, our new Emergency Shed Funding, the ground breaking Pathfindr safe distancing assistant now available through the SMSA for free to all Scottish Men’s Shed members and lastly the latest status of the SMSA Reopening Shed Guidance.
Today (Thursday 18th February 2021) at 5.05pm, The Scottish Parliament debated on the Scottish Men’s Sheds Movement during Members’ Business led by Maurice Corry MSP alongside four-minute speeches from Kenneth Gibson MSP, Rona McKay MSP, Stuart McMillan MSP and Christine Grahame MSP.
The debate is in reference to the ‘Scotland’s Men’s Sheds Movement’ motion (S5M-23991) lodged by Maurice Corry MSP on the 27th January 2021.
During the course of the pandemic, many Men’s Sheds adopted new ways of conducting meetings by carrying these out virtually. The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) is advising that the governing documents of some charities do not allow for this online approach and therefore must be updated.
On the 30th September 2020, the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (Meetings of Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisations) (Coronavirus) (No. 2) Regulations 2020 made legal provision to enable ‘virtual’ methods whether or not governing documents permit this. These temporary provisions were extended until the 30th March 2021.
OSCR is advising charities that this is likely to be the last extension to these provisions. Therefore, it is vital that Sheds make sure they are ‘future-proofed’ in terms of being able to conduct meetings virtually by allowing for them in governance documentation.
SMSA’s Shed-specific Constitution template
SMSA has worked with OSCR to revise its Shed-specific Constitution templates available to Sheds across Scotland:
Generic – Men’s Shed Template Constitution – Available in the SMSA Resource Library (member log-in required) under Open Sheds and Shed Development.
Ownership – SCIO Community Asset Transfer building ‘Ownership’ Constitution – Available in the SMSA Resource Library (member log-in required) under Open Sheds and Shed Development.
The changes advised by OSCR were to include the wording ‘in person and virtual’ into four different places. The above templates have been updated to reflect these recommendations.
These documents are in an editable format for your benefit and are not to be changed in any other way than adding your personal Shed charity criteria for OSCR submission. If you have adopted our SMSA/OSCR approved Shed constitution you MUST update it to this format to remain operational and legal after the March grace period. Sheds then need to notify OSCR, send the Regulator a copy of the revised constitution and ideally, the Resolution (e.g. Minute of the Board passing of the change).
If your Shed requires support, please contact Jason Schroeder, SMSA Executive Officer at ceo@scottishmsa.org.uk or call 07397382533.
In lockdown, the SMSA is still advising all Sheds to remain closed—until further guidance is issued from The Scottish Government. The Association has taken this time to consult with its Shed members and partner organisations on its reopening guidance that it has been working on for several months.
The guidance (containing a 16-page document, risk assessment, new member registration form, shed visit rota, track and trace form and a cleaning checklist) provides advice and examples only for Men’s Sheds in Scotland on steps and safety measures in relation to Covid-19 to follow to safely reopen their doors again when the time is right.
SMSA wishes to thank everyone that took the time to respond to the consultation including our Shed members, Healthy Working Lives, Public Health Scotland, Age Scotland and the Scottish Government. SMSA is now currently collating all of the feedback received and will revise the document accordingly.
This guidance is by no means definitive and is something that will be reviewed and updated on an ongoing basis over time.
Recently policy has focused on the role of community-based organisations and the ways that they are tackling local health issues, such as social isolation and loneliness.
Men’s Sheds have been recognised for the health and wellbeing impacts they have on those who use them, therefore, questions have been raised over their ability to become deliverers of formal healthcare to ‘hard to reach’ men in communities.
With this in mind, a study was conducted with Sheds in Scotland to identify challenges to Shed sustainability and development that may affect their ability to deliver formal healthcare.
Findings showed that a reliance on ageing and retired volunteers to undertake operational tasks and generate income to fund activities affected the ability of Sheds to sustain and develop.
Shed members also did not wish their Sheds to become formal healthcare deliverers, preferring to keep their activities informal and flexible to fit with the needs of their members.
In conclusion, although Sheds are recognised for their health and wellbeing benefits to men, policymakers must recognise that formalising their activities might detract from the Shed’s primary aims. Therefore, there must be a consideration of tensions that exist in placing expectations of Sheds to expand their remit and formalise into service delivery.
