Many people will be aware of the community projects that members of The Inverclyde Shed undertake for our local schools, care homes, and other community groups.

Some may have seen that we often use recycled timber that has been donated to us or the red oak offcuts that we receive from our supporters at The Coop Funeralcare.

We are, as an organisation, dedicated to the sustainable harvest, production, and promotion of Scottish timber and support others dedicated to these aims like The Association of Scottish Hardwood Sawmillers.

The ASHA promote Scottish grown timber which in turn helps to sustain local communities, employment and offers a more sustainable alternative to imported timbers.

For the Shed, we always aim to be sustainable in both ecological and operational ways.

The use of local sustainably felled timber not only minimises our carbon footprint but also could mean that we have a lifelong supply of cost effective lumber that benefits our members and their community, whilst providing activities and training to our members, keeping them active and engaged.

Shed Chairman Peter McNab at Livingstone Garden Machinery’s base being trained to use the shed’s new LOGSOL mobile sawmill  (Image: Inverclyde Shed)

Lately, our board and membership have been looking at ways to better utilise local timber resources, particularly trees that have been felled due to disease or storm damage rendering them dangerous.

To these ends a small group of members within the Shed, led by our chair Peter McNab, researched and developed a proposal for the Shed to undertake small scale sawmilling.

The aim has been to provide Shed members with access to better quality timber that we can then use in our community projects which benefit the wider Inverclyde community.

Shed Chairman Peter McNab at Livingstone Garden Machinery’s base being trained to use the shed’s new LOGSOL mobile sawmill  (Image: Inverclyde Shed)

The Shed has invested in a Mobile Bandsaw Sawmill, funded by The National Lottery Community Fund Scotland, that will enable us to bring the sawmill to the trees, processing up to 4.8m long logs into useable lumber.

We have undertaken the training and now look forward to working with partners like our friends at Homefix Scotland to process local hardwoods that have been sustainably felled and can be put to local use.