MAY NEWSLETTER
Hopefully some things of interest to everyone this month. Work to enliven the club continues at a pace.
In April we told you about the very successful event in the Damart mill in Bingley. Over the day we gave hands on experience sessions to 41 individuals. Of that 41 we have a list of 16 prospects who want to receive a bit more instruction. We also have 6 ladies who received training and experience from Jim, Phil Bristow and myself. All of them have become members. Most were at the meeting in April. We continue to provide that, both in the clubs developing workshop and in homes of the tutors.
However, we have a bit of a problem that we need to address urgently….
We don’t have enough people to deliver the training
The response to the experience day was amazing but our follow up to that experience day fell short of the mark and a back log of people wanting a bit more training has developed. We weren’t prepared for the numbers.This will only be made worse as we have another day in Damart on the 30th of this month.
We have five accredited trainers in the club. We have three members who want to become accredited through the AWGB. All we’re waiting for there is confirmation of availability of the AWGB assessor. We are allowed to have four extra tutors who aren’t accredited, but are capable.
So, our request is PLEASE HELP… the club workshop is available for use 24/7 and we just need to match members with prospective members at times to be arranged to suit everyone. So please consider volunteering half a day a week. Let us know when that is and we will try and match up with one of the 16 prospects. You won’t be on your own. So why not help. Please contact me on admin@westridingwoodturners.org or see me at the next meeting.
Club Workshops………Work continues to develop these workspaces. We now have 4 wood lathes and a medium sized metal working lathe, in place. Dust extraction is nearly finished. There is other kit available for use, for those who know how to use it or are happy to be shown how. There are all types of welding and metal working kit. A small foundry. A small forge. Metal spinning equipment. A 3d printer and two sizes of CNC laser and milling platforms.
The workshops are available for members to use. Just ask me on 07999977696 and we can arrange.
WIC Project
We are in Damart again on the 30th May. Please call in and give a hand. Collecting names and explaining the craft. If you want to bring pieces to sell we will have a display stall.
Great Yorkshire Show
On-line entries for the show have now closed. We will have our usual stand in the tent. We have also been requested to run hands on experience sessions outside the tent. We will man these on a daily basis at set times throughout the day. 4 extra day passes are available for members who wish to commit to running a session.
New Members
Following on from the 1st experience day in Damart, we have 6 new members. They are all ladies.
Nadine,
Annette,
Jenny
Jo
Kath
Laura
Welcome to the club.
Next Meeting
The next meeting is in the hall on Tuesday 2nd June at 7.30. The demonstration is the demo by Martin Saban Smith via Zoom. We have worked with the hall to iron out the AV issues. Martin will be able to talk to us and we will be able to talk to him.
I watched Martin demonstrating at the Woodworking Show. It was very enlightening.
Finally
We sadly report the death of Eric Man. Eric was a past member of the club. Many of you will know him.
His funeral is at 10.45 at Rawdon Crematorium on Friday 12th June. Followed by a reception at the Brownlea Arms in Horsforth.
Thanks for reading
April Newsletter
We have a lot to let you know about here. A new year for the club with some exciting
developments to tell you about. My apologies for the late newsletter. I’ve been very
busy.
First up. Thank you to everyone who attended the AGM. It went down well. Some information wasn’t available but we
muddled through. A new committee was appointed as follows
Chairman Jim Barker
Secretary John Douglas
Treasurer Allen Davis
Events manager Mick Watmough
Website manager Phil Bristow
Sales and Raffle Sylvia Watmough
Sales and Raffle Jean Clark
Other sales Clifford Clark
No defined role [yet] Graham Bingham
WIC project
We told you about this wood turning in the community project that the club developed using grants from the local
council. We bought a good Record lathe and promoted our first hands on experience day in the Damart Café on the 25th
of this month. This went better than anyone expected. The turnout was constant with queues all the time. We were very
very busy. Our red badge trainers were in constant demand and other club members assisted with queue management
and with general meet and greet roles. A big thank you to all who gave up there time to do this. Given that we didn’t have
much time to advertise I was worried that the event would flop. Far from it. We had lathes running constantly from 10am
until 3pm. In total we had 41 individuals looking and expressing a firm interest in doing more. Im sure we can convert
some of these people into members. So we need to continue to offer these people more experience, until they are
hooked on turning…
Now this is the major exciting news.
We have a permanent workshop. The club has 400sq ft of permanent workshop space in the 2 workspace
containers in Riddlesden The workspaces have electricity, lighting and heating. We have car parking and 24/7 access.
The plan is to offer prospective members further tuition in the workshops They can have 2 sessions in the
workshops, free of charge. Then they have to join the club.
The workshops are funded through a grant from ASDA. We have had some very useful equipment donated for use
The containers currently house a large CNC Laser bed and a very capable Southbend metal working lathe. There are
MIG and TIG welders and metal forging and casting equipment for use outside. There is plenty of quality wood that
has been drying and is available for sale in aid of the club funds. Quality wood lathes available for members in the
workshop. The largest and most capable is my Record Power MAXI 1, with a capacity of 762mm over the bed.
Members are welcome to go down to the workshop and use the kit by arrangement. Email or phone me on
07999977696
The next meeting is on Tuesday evening as usual. We lost our demonstrator but Jim has stepped up with a novel
technique for turning pendants.
In May we have a presence at the Bronte Gathering in Cullingworth on the 9th and 10th May. WE will be
demonstrating and offering hands on experience sessions to the public.
https://www.sueryder.org/get-involved/fundraise-for-us/events/bronte-gathering/
It’s a fun day out with plenty to see. I’m trying to persuade Jim Barker to enter the Ferret Down the Trousers
competition. But he’s resisting. Help to put up the marquee and take it down is vital. If you can help please have a
word with Mick
We are having our second Woodturning experience day in the Damart Café, in Bingley on the 30th May. Come along
and help out please. If it hadn’t been for the members who came to the last one and did crowd control we would have been overwhelmed.
March
The AGM is upon us and its time to make some mild changes to the club. We are hoping that you are all enjoying the new enthusiasm which is making the club a more attractive proposition. Enthusiasm propagates itself. We have six new members and more enquiries. The club was stagnant. Membership was falling. Ideas for revitalising things were voiced but disregarded. It was easier to say no than to say yes. Following resignations. That is now changing.
The major change in the club is the change in status with the AWGB. From an associate club, we are now an affiliated club. This. has opened up a whole lot of possibilities. It was a cunning plan worthy of Baldrick. We had to pay the AWGB £250+ to make you all members of the AWGB. In return we have an immediate grant of £350 plus an extra level of insurance cover which allows the club to do hands on training and demonstrations in the great outdoors. We have initiated a woodturning in the community project, Helped by Bingley council and their partners. Bingley Creates. More about that later! We have also changed the constitution slightly. It is now specified that the secretary and treasurer should be separate people.
In the last newsletter we asked for nominations for the expiring positions in the club. No nominations were received. This means that the incumbents in those positions are automatically confirmed in the roles until 2028. So this is the new committee.
Chairman……… Jim Barker…..all hail Jim lol
Secretary …………John Douglas
Treasurer…………Alan Davis
Events Organiser…….Mick Watmough
Webmaster…………Philip Bristow
We also have Clifford Clark who runs the shop as a committee member
The Membership secretary, Newsletter Editor and Speaker Organiser roles are currently shared out amongst the existing committee members, as they overlap into other positions.
But if anyone wants to take one of these roles they can be nominated from the floor at the AGM. Otherwise the situation remains the same.
There are three ordinary committee positions . Sylvia Watmough and Jean Clark have been nominated as ordinary committee members and are appointed.
Leaving one position vacant.
The WIC Project [Woodturning in the Community]
The club is working at giving anyone in the community a hands on experience of woodturning over the rest of the year and into 2017. We are sourcing funding to do this. To date the club has been given or pledged grants to do this. So far £1050 has been granted by Bingley Town Council with pledges of £750 from the ASDA community chest and £350 from the AWGB. These monies will be ring fenced for the woodturning in the community project. More grant applications are in progress.
Experience Days. The plan is to run experience days in the Bingley Creates event which is held monthly in the café area in Damart Mill. We will have lathes running for demonstrations and invite the public to have a go. Under the supervision of our 5 AWGB approved trainers.
We are also looking at working with younger people in scout and guide groups and youth organisations. Subject to safeguarding check. We could also go into schools and colleges. By doing this we hope to expand the hobby and gain new younger members. People who can continue the club as we all pop our clogs.
The project is still evolving. Our first session is planned for Saturday 25th April in the Damart café. If successful we will be there on a monthly basis. We are also looking for other venues. Please get involved if you can.
We are also investigating taking space in the developing craft centre in Bingley Town Hall
Great Yorkshire Show
The club is hosting the woodturning section at the upcoming Great Yorkshire show. We also host the prestigious woodturning competition at the show. This year’s judge is Emma Cook, the tiny turner. If you enter 6 pieces you get free admission to the show on any one day. Entering 6 pieces is considerably cheaper than paying for entry to the show. So it’s a win win situation. See Chairman Jim for details.
We will also have hands on experience sessions at the Bronte Gathering in May and at other local events. We need members to turn up and help at these events. We will be giving more details fairly soon. It is the intension of the committee to make the club as open and inclusive as possible. So in addition to the website we will be continuing to send out regular newsletters and updates.
That’s about it for now. If you have any questions we will answer them at the AGM on the 7th April. 7.30 in the village hall. There will be a quality pie and pea supper provided. Please come along. It’s important.