Every Man Needs a Shed!

“A shed is to a man what a handbag is to a woman – both contain all the essentials for surviving in the modern world”.

Age UK Cheshire already runs a hugely successful project “Men in Sheds” which sees older men meeting up in a community ‘shed’ to learn new skills, share existing skills and knowledge, and generally put the world to rights over a cup of tea.

Built on the Mens Shed movement in Australia, we brought this innovative project to Cheshire in 2008 with a ‘shed’ in Hartford, followed by a Big Lottery Fund grant of just under half a million pounds in 2010 to develop and expand the project to Crewe, Chester, and Ellesmere Port. 

We were able to evidence a strong need for older men wishing to engage with others, including those who may be experiencing life changing events such as redundancy, ill health, retirement, bereavement, brain injury, stroke, heart attack, dementia, etc.

#Benefits
The men have provided a comprehensive list of positive benefits they have experienced from the shed, including:  feeling better about themselves, being happier at home, having a strong sense of belonging, having access to informal learning, making new friends, developing a sense of worth, capturing and passing on skills and craftsmanship, reducing isolation, and creating greater respect for older people.

#Mobile Men in Sheds
It is now our intention to take similar opportunities to older men living in Cheshire’s more rural communities and we are planning an exciting project called “Mobile Men in Sheds”. 

This will involve taking traditional shed activities such as woodworking, pottery, art and crafts,and some more diverse opportunities such as creative writing, digital photography, ICT, etc, out ‘on the road’ to communities where such activities are difficult to access or are currently non-existent.

We will equip our mobile vehicle with the appropriate tools to deliver sessions that will be fun, help reduce rural isolation and provide a social opportunity for men to get together. 

To enable us to deliver the most appropriate activities for your area, we would be grateful for your help by completing and returning the consultation form which can be found by clicking on the link below the photo.

This article is from our news archive. As a result pictures or videos originally associated with it may have been removed and some of the content may no longer be accurate or relevant.