Inverclyde Shed (Registered Scottish Charity: SC049585) was formally constituted in January 2018 and registered with OSCR on the 3rd September 2019. In that time we have grown and developed the Shed and our membership significantly – reaching out to many new members and providing a safe place offering friendship over a cuppa and blether.

Today, we have a strong board of six from a cohort of 33 active voting members, over 400 associate members and our supporters through our social media channels. We opened our first 700sqft shed at Captain Street in Greenock on January 2018 and have subsequently expanded that to include a second 700sqft workshop space by mid 2019 and a 120sqft Storage unit within the Captain Street Estate to accommodate increase in demand from members for space and storage of materials. In March 2019, we were successful with funding applications to the National Lottery that has meant we have our rent covered for the next five years. In August 2019, we took on the management of a community garden space in Gourock. In March 2020, we were successful with a community asset transfer, low cost lease request for a 4000sqft industrial unit in Greenock that should secure the Inverclyde Shed for a generation/25 years following renovation due to start May 2021. We have also been able to open a smaller Shed focused on digital fabrication / distance working in Gourock, partly as a response to Covid-19 but also to attract a younger demographic.

Achievements

The biggest potential achievement has been securing the long-term 25-year lease at £1 per year for what will be our main Shed in Greenock. It has required considerable effort, patience and partnership working with our local authority to deliver the lease and then subsequently to apply to the Scottish Government for capital funding (circa £500,000) to renovate this space and hopefully secure a long-term future for The Inverclyde Shed for a generation. The low level of rent, location and space afforded by this development will also allow the Shed to undertaken larger projects and work in partnership with other local organisations on a range of exciting projects which may include boat building / renovation.

Challenges/Barriers

We have faced a number of challenges over the past couple of years. We have always been clear as a group what our strategy would be and met every month to discuss it as a group how to progress. Our key strategy was as follows: Secure five-year funding for Captain Street; Secure 25-year Community Asset Transfer; and build and develop membership through diversification. Patience, perseverance and a positive attitude have worked for us to overcome potential challenges working with the local authority, funders and other local organisations.

Impact on the Local Community

We have helped a number of local organisations, notable examples include the following: cleaning and repairing name plaque for local hospice; building a chicken run for local older people’s home; building planters for local school/community centre; involve school children in planting at our garden; donating ‘street larders’ to local charity; and donating food grown at our garden to sheltered housing. In addition to these examples, we often undertake smaller projects for individuals to repair cherished items, build garden furniture or other small acts of kindness.

Leading Light

Our Shed really is a group effort, our board take on a range of roles that support one another and our membership have been active and engaged, bringing their considerable experience to assist the Shed. We pride ourselves as a working group, without this we couldn’t have achieved what we have to date.

Tell a story of a time when your Shed has gone above and beyond

We have been providing vulnerable older people in local sheltered housing with free food from our community garden, everything from tatties and spinach to fresh herbs and tomato plants for them to grow on their own window sills.

Staying Connected During the Covid-19 Pandemic

We have used Zoom to create a weekly ‘Virtual Shed’ to connect members but to also meet other Shedders and groups to hear their stories, this has included St Andrews Shed, Yell Shed and Lockerbie Shed. Other groups have included Bellville Community Trust, Blooming Inverkip and the Woodlands Community Garden, Glasgow. Zoom will continue to play a role in our future plans, connecting the various spaces that we are developing and allowing us to ‘virtually’ meet others to learn from them. We have also developed a digital fabrication Shed in Gourock that will operate a ‘distance’ model where people can work remotely, take part in online discussion via zoom and arrange to meet locally as Covid-19 lockdown restrictions ease. In addition to these measures, we also just pick up the phone to talk to one another, particularly supporting our older and more vulnerable members.

Future Plans

We have plans for a community orchard adjacent to our community garden in Gourock. Our plans are to significantly increase annual fruit harvest for donation to vulnerable people whilst our members benefit from a quiet outdoor space, physical exercise, learning about and cooking fruit. We hope to find out whether this will proceed by end of August 2020 with a view to planting the orchard this Autumn. The idea is to create something that can be passed between the generations.