AGM, hello to new committee, coming up in October..

Hi everyone!
It's been a busy few months for our regulars, including our open day and the AGM and we are delighted to be seeing more of you at the shed for a variety of activities.  This weekend we had nearly 30 sheddies in the hills of Cooroy, learning about Tania Edwards' story and Anagama 'Syrinx' (a giant woodfired kiln).
It certainly inspired a few members and gave us some ideas for what we can do with our pottery space when we finally get it! (although maybe not up to a 7m long, 5 day 24 hour a day woodfiring just yet ....)

As we head into October we have some highlights for you:

• The first Tuesday of the month our walkers go 'further afield' - this month they are meeting at Park Edge road to do Noosa National Park
• Sunrise Yoga Flow,  with Simone 7am Tuesdays
• Resistance training with Robyn 11.30am Mondays and Fridays (Block booking required, held in Coolum)
• 'Take time for yourself' - A fantastic day retreat organised by our members as part of Queensland Mental Health week 
• Sheddies off the Shelf Book Club meeting Friday 26th October - current book available to borrow at the shed.
• Veggie Village will be offering a miso making workshop/demo towards the end of the month (tickets on website next week)

We also want to take this opportunity to encourage you to join us for any of the activities that take your interest. All of our groups assume no prior knowledge, although if you are able to share skills you are definitely welcomed (and needed!). Our activities are meant to be fun, and meant to give you the chance to do something you enjoy in a low pressure, supportive and friendly environment.  So if you have always wanted to sing, please come along to our vocal group - 'The Cool Ums', or if you have a guitar or uke, that you keep promising to learn 'one day' - well this is your chance! (Join us at the 'Cool Strums')

We are on the process of planning some craft workshops, keep an eye on the calendar (it's easy to see in Band).  Our fortnightly meetup 'Loose Ends' is a social group where members can book in and work on their own projects. There is no teacher, so if you are looking for lessons, it's better to wait for a workshop, although the craft chat on band usually has people planning on sharing some skill or another :-).  This month the 'Colour Crew' are taking a break from their Shibori antics and are planning on trying out some eco dyeing - as with all our member meetups, this is a casual event where members get together to try out an activity - everyone helps out, no-one is the 'teacher'. 

If you want to attend any of these activities please book ahead - we only run activities if we have a minimum of 4 people booked in.  Booking ahead is necessary so that we can follow current COVID guidelines and we can let you know if anything changes. If you have any problems with the booking process, we have a drop in session- Tech Tuesday, 9am with Nell.

You can view and download a printable version of our perpetual calendar here

AGM in brief
On the 2nd September we held our first AGM, full minutes are available by contacting the secretary, and we will be putting them on the website in due course. Here are some highlights from the day. We had updates on our activities for the year and some good discussion about the coming priorities for the year. Overall we are in a better position financially, and we continue to attract new members.   The current committee vacated their post and the nominees were appointed as follows:

• President, Nell Harvey
• Secretary, Leonne Deighton,
• Treasurer, Monita Griffiths
• General Committee Member, Deilia Murray
• General Committee Member, Renee Brown

A big thank you to outgoing Secretary Luanne Ingram, and another thank you to all the new committee members for volunteering your services! 

Also of note, we discussed and voted to adopt the constitution which we have  updated and expanded. This included recognising the contribution of Founding Members, by granting them lifetime membership and we updated our objects  to the following :

The Coolum Women’s Shed is a community-based organisation and as such the objects of the association are to:

1. Create a welcoming space away from home and work where women can pursue a variety of recreation based and personal development activities.
2. Connect and bring our members together regularly so that they can enjoy the social, mental and physical benefits of belonging to our community consisting of members with a wide range of interests
3. Empower our members to try new things, upskill or share their strengths in an environment where women feel welcomed, supported and have fun.
4. Apply the property and capacity of the association towards the fulfilment and achievement of these Objects
5. Pursue such commercial arrangements, including sponsorship and marketing opportunities as are appropriate to further the interests of the members
6. Represent the interests of our Members in any appropriate forum
7. Engage with and further the development of the Australian and International Women’s Shed Movement
8. Use and protect the Intellectual Property of the association
9. Do all that is reasonably necessary to enable these Objects to be achieved and enable Members to receive the benefits which these Objects are intended to achieve
10. Promote the health and safety of Members and all other participants in Coolum Women’s Shed activities.
11. Seek and obtain improved facilities for the enjoyment of a variety of activities including indoor and outdoor recreation
12. Promote the development of volunteers and members to encourage regular participation in the association’s activities.
13. Emphasise fun at all levels of participation, personal development, mental health, physical fitness, healthy attitudes and teamwork.

As a community organisation the association relies on the voluntary efforts of its members. The Coolum Women’s Shed respects that our members will volunteer at a level that is appropriate to their circumstances. Our volunteer capacity will determine what and how we engage in activities, and our ability to fund and obtain our own facilities and equipment.
 
The property and income of the association shall be applied solely towards the promotion of the aims and objects of the association and no part of that property or income may be paid or otherwise distributed, directly or indirectly, to members of the association, except in good faith in the promotion of those aims and objects.


The updated objects were based on a workshop of members feelings about what the aims of the shed should be. We hope that clarifying the objects will allow us to be clearer about what we are, and why we are here.

A full copy of the updated constitution will be available soon on the website.
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