IF you are one of the hundreds of people taking a seat to enjoy the entertainment of the Feein’ Market next month, to down beer at the Midsummer Beer Happening or listen to the Folk Festival’s free concert, then take a moment to enjoy the lovely new chair you are sitting on.
In a project spanning many months and orchestrated by Julie Lindeman of the Stonehaven Town Partnership, a shed at the bottom of the Town Hall lane has been made fit for purpose again by volunteers of Stonehaven and District Men’s Shed and thanks to various funding sources, it is stocked with brand new tables and chairs for use at our town’s many annual events.
And on Saturday, accompanied by his wife Fiona Macphie, the Lord Lieutenant of Kincardineshire attended an opening ceremony to mark the renovation of a humble shed serving an important function.
Addressing the gathering of Men’s Shed volunteers, and representatives of from community groups who had contributed to the cost of the work, Mrs Lindeman said the shed had been in a sad state of disrepair. The roof was letting in rain and pigeons so the old tables and chairs inside were dirty and rusty and no longer fit to be used.
Men’s Shed put in 273 hours to fix the shed
Getting the shed back to standard was a priority. Men’s Shed volunteer Paul Tosh explained the huge amount of work that was needed.
He said: ”Stonehaven and District Men’s Shed made a new door, a new door frame and clad the shed. We also replaced a quantity of roof sarking. All of this took 273 man hours.”
Mr Tosh said masonry work was undertaken by Wayne Dunbar Building Services. And he thanked the community groups who had made donations towards all the repair costs: the Men’s Shed, the Midsummer Beer Festival, Lions, Rotary, Horizon, Round Table, Folk Festival, Fireballs, Friends of Forest Drive Park. Funding was also received from the Kincardine and Mearns Area Committee.
And Mr Tosh thanked Diane Henderson of Aberdeenshire Council who supported a project that ‘grew arms and legs’ and because the Town Hall is listed, had to ‘jump through hoops’.
Mrs Lindeman added: ”The work here at the shed was a true community effort by various groups. All the funding we received allowed us to buy all this equipment that will be used throughout the year.”
Paul Tosh accompanied Mr Macphie as he inspected the shed and equipment purchased to help transport the new tables and chairs used in community events. All of this was made possible after the Stonehaven Town Partnership successfully applied for funding from: GoFibre, KDP and the Meikle Carewe Wind Farm, the ABZ Propller Fund and the Kincardine and Mearns Area Committee.
In a day celebrating Stonehaven’s volunteer efforts, Mr and Mrs Macphie then boarded the Stoney Express for the Big Help Out thank you. They are pictured accompanied by Jane Cruickshank, left, and Melissa Cheyne, GoFibre Community Engagement Executive.