14-04-2023

Presentation at Eaton Aerospace

Dropped in it again. Eaton Ltd. obviously respect and try to look after their employees and asked us to give a short presentation of just what we do. Having previously made presentations to Crofton Women's Institute the request was passed to me. A quick dredge through the old filing system and an update on the presentation made then and we were nearly ready. Unfortunately whilst Eaton Ltd are leading suppliers to high-tech industries they have a screen but no projector so how could we show some of the things that we have done? After all, just words don't really come across in the same way.

A call to a local computer support company and I was given a couple of old notebooks, I had my own one, a Raspberry Pi and four 21" monitors so a quick (well maybe not quite so quick) dig through the webpage and some careful copying and we had a standalone website running on four separate screens (well three really, as one of the graphics adaptors died on the day) that the audience could browse through to their heart's content after the presentation. RESULT.

Come the day, after setting the computers up, ChrisH, as Chairman, introduced CliffJ, RodP and myself to the collected mass and off we went. Minor problems with their microphone added some light-hearted banter. What is a shed, our history, a potted history of the Theatre including the new auditorium and ChrisH gave a few case studies of how we have helped members in the past. We must have got something right as the presentations were looked at with interest, a few questions were asked and a nice donation made to The Shed.

After worrying for a few days beforehand the whole thing went off well. Thank you Chris, Rod and Cliff for your help and support.

As a final footnote to the story ChrisH received the following from a lady called Lin Hanney that attended our little gathering. What a lovely closing thought, it really makes one feel appreciated:

l am a published poet and felt compelled to compose a poem in honour of the great work you all do at Fareham Men's Shed and l would like to donate it to you to use as you wish.

I remember one of your member's took a photo at the Eaton meeting and l would love to see it if that is not too much trouble, thank you.

I hope you like the poem and if I ever go to an event again, I will definitely come over and say hello and make myself known.

Take good care and keep up the good work.

All the very best

Lin

Men’s Shed get-together for their wellbeing
problems in men are usually hidden
the chains of mental pain can need freeing

Giving men a sense of purpose
to be amongst caring members
no time to feel worthless

Manufacturing lots of things
putting their skills to good use
A sense of camaraderie it brings

A man just needs someone to talk to
behind his rugged appearance
Only he knows what he has been through

Men’s Shed can bring self-worth
enjoying male companionship
Soon his problems will disperse

Wntten by Lin Hanney

Author: Chris Nixon