After a site visit today by Wernicks, the new cabins will be delivered on time. All jacking points are on tarmac, which makes life easier. Then the work begins to move our tools and equipment from various points around the parish into the cabins. That will need sorting into some semblance of order, which will happen in the week beginning 20th October. It will be a while before we are fully operational, and then as the title says ‘All Systems Go’.
Grant From Taylor Wimpey
PRESS RELEASE
September 2025
Hampshire housebuilder donates £500 to Bordon Men’s Shed
Taylor Wimpey South Thames has made a £500 donation to Bordon Men’s Shed as part of its commitment to the Bordon community.
Located near the housebuilder’s Dukes Quarter development, Bordon Men’s Shed provides a safe space for its members to pursue interests, practice skills and build relationships.
With over 10 members, Bordon Men’s Shed welcomes anyone looking to make social connections, build friendships and share skills, knowledge and laughter.
With Bordon Men’s Shed moving to a new home at The Phoenix Theatre in Bordon, Taylor Wimpey South Thames agreed to dedicate its donation to the purchase of new construction tools, which will be used as part of the interactive and collaborative activities that are organised for members. Some of the tools purchased include general wood working tools and lather tools.
Clive R Handy, Secretary at Bordon Men’s Shed, said: “We are thankful to for this generous donation from Taylor Wimpey. With our new shed coming soon, this donation has come at a great time. We’re looking forward to using the new tools and equipment to not only continue work on our current projects but to also start on new activities.”
Louise Adams, Sales and Marketing Director at Taylor Wimpey South Thames, said: “Bordon Men’s Shed provides a vital space for its members throughout Bordon and Whitehill to develop new interests, make new friends and to create memories, so we were delighted to have been given the opportunity to support the group and provide a donation for its new tools.
“At Taylor Wimpey we make it a priority to support organisations making a positive difference in the communities we build and Bordon Men’s Shed is no different. We’re glad to hear the donation is of benefit to its members and we wish them all the very best going forward.”
To learn more about Bordon Men’s Shed visit, https://bordonmensshed.com/
Dukes Quarter currently has a collection of two and three bedroom homes available to buyers, with prices starting at £345,000. For more information about Dukes Quarter, call the sales team on 01420 550179 or visit, https://www.taylorwimpey.co.uk/new-homes/bordon/dukes-quarter.
ENDS
Press contact
Rhea Foster | rfoster@rkh.co.uk
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Note to editors:
Taylor Wimpey UK, part of Taylor Wimpey plc, is one of the UK’s largest residential developers. Operating from 22 regional businesses across the UK, Taylor Wimpey is a customer-focused homebuilder, rated 5 stars for customer service in the Home Builders Federation (HBF) survey.
Taylor Wimpey is committed to delivering high quality new homes within thriving communities, in a safe and environmentally responsible manner. In 2024 they delivered 10,593 homes (including joint ventures) and contributed £345 million to local communities via planning obligations.
For more information please visit http://www.taylorwimpey.co.uk or follow on X @TaylorWimpeyplc.
Bordon Men’s Shed Build a Mud Kitchen
Bordon Men’s Shed was commissioned by Selborne Primary School, Selborne, to construct a ‘mud’ kitchen for use by the children. Their previous mud kitchen had fallen into disrepair and was falling apart and becoming dangerous. We took on the project and collected wood from various sources, including projects in the neighbourhood that gave up their spare materials. We also found a stainless steel sink that was going spare and utilised that. The result was very pleasing, and it was delivered to Selborne Primary on Friday, 26th September. The staff were thrilled and couldn’t wait for the children to see it and be able to play with it. We also installed a funnel and tube to connect to the sink taps so that the water could be turned on and off. I’m sure the children of Selborne will have many happy hours playing with it. It joins the sandpit covers and the hanging fixture, which were also constructed by Bordon Men’s Shed. The pictures show (1) in place at Selborne School and (2) outside the Men’s Shed temporary home.
Pictures show the mud kitchen in place in the school and outside the Men’s Shed
Another project
The Men’s Shed was asked to produce ‘planters’ to be placed at the Canadian War Memorial in Camp Road in Bordon.
Eddie from Whitehill Town Council provided decking boards and plans to build said planters in time for Remembrance Sunday in November. Accordingly construction was started for the two planters required. See picture for the partially assembled items.
The final assembly is in progress and the project should be finished well in time for Armistice Day. Watch this space for further news.
The finished planters in place at the Canadian War M< Memorial. There was no mention of who made them and painted them.
Bordon Soapbox Races
Our Contribution
We are proud to be associated with the Iconic Bricks entry into the Bordon Soapbox Races on down Chalet Hill in the town. Reg Bettles of the Bordon Men’s Shed built the bodywork, complete with the Lego theme, which raced in those colours. Unfortunately, it didn’t win, but at least it took part. Congratulations for all the constructors from Iconic and the Men’s Shed. Pictures from the day, 20th July:
Going Well!
The Men’s Shed programme is going well. Now we have planning permission and no requirement for building regs, we can wait for the grant to be authorised. Hopefully it will come through soon, and we can start getting our new shed up and running.
Free Products from Ronseal
Back in March, the UK Men’s Shed Association (UKMSA) asked members to enter a competition for free Ronseal products. Apparently, Ronseal does this every year and gives away thousands of pounds worth of their products to Men’s Sheds. Bordon Mens Shed applied for products and subsequently was successful in being one of 150 Mens Sheds to be recipients of their generosity. This is what we were sent:
Despite last year breaking all records with the number of Sheds receiving paint to help their projects, Ronseal has committed to increasing the number of Sheds supported this year too. So, we would like to thank Ronseal and the UKMSA for organising this effort and helping us with fantastic products.
Planning Permission!
Planning Permission!
We have now been granted Planning Permission from EHDC. This is temporary and must be renewed in five years time. But that is just the start; we now need to get the existing storage containers moved and to buy the site cabins to be used as our workshop. But all this means we are on the way!
Sound Assessment
Planning permission has been granted to carry on with the completion of our project to build a new Men’s Shed in Bordon. However, this permission depends on a noise impact assessment by a professional company. The cost will be in the order of £700, but it will be money well spent if it gives us the requisite planning permission. We hope to employ Sound Planning Ltd of Farnham to do the work. Once this is submitted, the work really begins: previous storage to clear, cabins to purchase, and most importantly the grant from EHDC.
Then we can start to build up the Men’s Shed, hopefully to same standard that we had before. Sometime later this year we hope to open the shed.
Latest News
I’d like to give you an update on events surrounding Bordon Men’s Shed:
In December The Men’s Shed were asked by the Phoenix Theatre to build a pirate ship for use in the naughty pantomime Robinson Crude-Soe which was played in mid December ( I was away at the time), as reported before.
We have also been commissioned by the Phoenix to help with other productions including making a representation of a boxing ring for a play in June. We were contacted by Selborne Primary School to make some play toys for use in the outdoors area, including a mud kitchen, sand pit cover, a bucket pulley system and stands for play trays. These projects are ongoing, The Phoenix also asked us to move some kerb stones, which were used on the tank testing area and were languishing at the back of the Phoenix’s land. These were to be placed at the entrance to the front of the theatre as shown below:
…to stop cars going through that area which is for pedestrians. There is access for wheelchair users. We spent time pressure-washing them ready for painting the same colour as the blocks shown. This will happen tomorrow (Friday). We have been lucky in that the Phoenix have said we can keep the centre shed behind the theatre for as long as we need it. It has been very useful for the projects so far, although it is a bit cramped with 8 of us in there! We have installed some benches and machinery in there to be able to do some small jobs. Our thanks go to Jacquie Bruton in Headley for allowing us to store some of our benches and cupboards in her garage.
As to the permanent workshop: Our planning application to place two ex-site cabins supplied by Wernicks of Farnham in place of the existing storage containers, has at last been accepted by the EHDC Planning Department. They have told us we can expect a decision on the application after March 11th. If this is favourable we await the freehold of the theatre and the land around it which they have applied for through Homes England and is expected very soon; this is essential for us to proceed as it will allow the Phoenix to do much more with their future projects without referral. When that is granted it will be all systems go although there is a lot of work to be done.
I receive a lot of requests asking about the Men’s Shed and when it will be opening, so hopefully will have a lot more interest when it does finally open which I would expect to be this summer, hopefully.
This is the paint job:
Bordon Men's Shed 