UK Men's Sheds Association looking for new chair

One of the best jobs in the world of sheds could be yours. The Board of Trustees of the UK Men's Sheds Association is looking for a new chair to lead the organisation and help set its vision and strategic direction including partnering with other organisations to promote its aimes. More details and how to apply here, but here's a snippet about the state of play:

UKMSA’s mission is to enable access to a Shed for every man who wants it. We have ambitious plans to support this development of hundreds more Sheds over the next 3-5 years. Earlier this year we launched the Charter for Wellbeing in Craft and DIY at the Palace of Westminster and it has been a fantastic platform on which to further partnerships across both the industry and healthcare spaces. This is, in short, an exciting time for UKMSA but also the circumstances of the economy and pandemic have set even greater need on the work we do. We are taking this challenge to heart and embracing the opportunity... As an increasingly influential voice in the arena of men’s health and wellbeing, UKMSA is championing the growth of ‘Shedding’ across the UK and partnering with a range of organisations to promote and support its aims.

Closing date for applications is August 31.

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Elly Griffiths: shedworker

Brighton-based bestselling crime novelist Elly Griffiths - author of the Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries, the Brighton Mysteries, and the Justice Series - writes from her own garden office. Here's how she describes her writing space in an interview with the i newspaper:

It’s a shed in the garden, just big enough for a desk, chair and bookcase. There is also a painting of the Norfolk coast and a spider plant called Sir Gawain. I used to share the shed with my cat, Gus, but sadly he died a few months ago, aged 18. A neighbour’s cat has taken to miaowing at the door but I’m not sure whether to let him in. It still feels like Gus’s space.

And in an article for Crime Reads she explains how it helped during the first 2020 lockdown:

Every day I walked through the garden to my writing shed and felt very lucky to have a job to do and a fictional world to escape to.

You can hear her talking about her work and, from about the 5:30 mark, what her garden office is like in this podcast interview below with the Cambridge Creative Writing Centre, Inside The Writing Shed.

CambridgeICE · Cambridge Creative Writing Centre - Crime and Thriller

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BBQ cabin with extension for treatment room

 

An interesting use for this 17m² BBQ Cabin with an extension from Arctic Cabins for a couple running a day spa business. Built on what was previously a concrete car park, it is used as a changing and treatment room for the spa, separate from their home, but also as a family relaxation zone in the winter (as well as somewhere to barbecue outside summer months). Features include Karndean flooring fitted throughout to make it easier to clean between client visits, and lights fitted under the seats. 

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Garden office garden wins RHS Tatton Park award

This rather splendid garden office by WOHOBO Garden Studios is the centrepiece in The Working From Home Garden designed by 26-year-old Will Scholey at the RHS Flower Show Tatton Park this week. Designed specifically for post-pandemic homeworking, it has now scooped Will the prestigious RHS Young Designer Award. The garden features naturalistic planting to offer an inspiring working environment, but interestingly uses materials more commonly seen on a work commute but reimagined in a garden setting such as large reclaimed granite kerbstones. 

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Working from home: latest UK data

The latest report from the Economics Observatory about working from home post-pandemic indicates that working from home is here to stay, with clear benefits for many people, in particular less time spent commuting. According to the report's author, senior research associate Charlie Meyrick from the University of Brisol: "Should current trends continue, it seems unlikely that we will ever return fully to pre-pandemic work patterns. Compared with before the pandemic, there are now over five million more people working remotely in the UK. This is roughly the equivalent of the entire working population of Austria."

The figures show the largest growth in homeworking has been in Scotland where it has doubled (see graph top). In England, the highest percentage of people working from home lived in London, followed by the South East, and then the East. The lowest increases were in the North East, and Yorkshire/Humber.

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Garden office air conditioning

It's heating rather than air conditioning that tends to generate the most queries when it comes to garden offices, but anybody who's been working in one over the last couple of days will be wondering if it's an addition to consider.

When I built my garden office I put air con in - "you'll only use it three days a year" they all laughed.... who's laughing now, eh ? pic.twitter.com/yDTxIIgBgg

— Andy Saunders (@mrasaunders) July 19, 2022

Here, below, is a video from Alex Booth from Booth's Garden Studios on exactly this subject.

"If you can afford an air conditioner for your garden office they really are a treat," says Ian Wetherell from Booths. "You are cool in the summer, and perfectly warm in the winter. In this video Alex shows how well they work when the temperature outside is 37 degrees. Although expensive initially, they use about a quarter of the electricity of a normal electric heater when running. It's recommended that you set a temperature so that once that temperature is reached, the AC will just "tick over" to maintain that perfect temperature. That's how they use less power."

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Wednesday’s posts are sponsored by Norwegian Log Buildings  - Log cabins and garden buildings for a better quality of life. Click here for more details.

 

Hot garden offices

 

A quick survey of people's hot garden offices yesterday. It could be worse today. Be safe out there in the garden folks.

After a lovely cool, air conditioned morning in the office, and similarly chilly drive home. I was presented with this in the garden office… nope! Not doing 42c for video calls … retreated to the relatively cooler, 28c, temperature inside the house! #Heatwave2022 pic.twitter.com/ONr7SRXbMH

— Martin Thomas (@Martin_Thomas) July 18, 2022

taken trips out of school and 40C in my garden office pic.twitter.com/Py2qFzccTi

— Julie Taylor-Lange #FBPE #GTTO #Ukraine (@JulieTaylorLan1) July 18, 2022

This has been the air temperature in my garden office for the last 4 hours.. that's with a fan going and the office has been in the shade. It's monstrously hot. It's so hot that my phone and my tablet will not charge as they overheat virtually immediately. pic.twitter.com/0O5VU0UveC

— Quentyn Taylor (@quentynblog) July 18, 2022

Called time on the garden office at 38°c. 🥵

— Chloe (@chloe_jt_) July 18, 2022

34.8 degrees Celsius in my garden office around 11am this morning so have made the wise decision to go and work from the kitchen...

— Andrew Tegala (@AndrewTegala) July 18, 2022

Yep, I was on the indoor trainer in the shed at 11.30-12 today, had to stop as it was hitting 48 degrees against the shed externally, was like an oven inside despite all windows open and three fans blowing. pic.twitter.com/zY3EIQX0FI

— Paul O' Brien (@PaulOBrienArch) July 18, 2022

I cannot believe this is on the shed in the yard!
Never seen anything like it
( it is in the sun - so obv not the overall temp, but still!) 😰
Yorkshire pic.twitter.com/42vFm9mC2K

— Bob (@cns46z) July 18, 2022

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