You may have heard about or know something of Men’s Sheds?
 
The new kid on the block is an older man – and he’s making, mending and learning in a community of other guys. The Men’s Shed in Worthing has been established for over two years, is ‘hosted’ by a prominent member of the local business community and is a local success story. Attached is some summary information including a brief introduction to a programme I’m working on called West Sussex Community Sheds.

There is a plan to establish a Men’s Shed in Fishersgate or Southwick and West Sussex Community Sheds is supporting this aim.

Have you got a modest sized premises in the Fishersgate/Southwick areas, which could be given a new lease of life as a Men’s Shed.
 
For more information please email david.richardson@westsussex.gov.uk

What is Men in Shed's?

Men’s Sheds originated in Australia where some 90,000 men (shedders) are now attending 690 sheds. The shed movement has spread to other parts of the world and in the UK 150 sheds are now open; 71 are in development; 1 new shed is opening each week and 3000 shedders currently involved.*
So what is a Men’s Shed? Put simply, it’s a larger version of the typical shed in the garden – a place where a man feels at home and can pursue practical interests. Men’s Sheds offers this to groups of such men – social spaces where members share tools and resources, working on projects of their own choosing at their own pace and in a safe, friendly and inclusive environment. They are places of skill-sharing and informal learning; of individual pursuits and community projects; of purpose and achievement; of social interaction and a place of leisure where men work together.
A shed’s activities usually involve making or mending in wood - e.g. carpentry, joinery, turning, carving, marquetry and furniture renovation. But also included may be metalworking, bike repairs, gardening, electronics, tool renovation, boat renovation, model engineering and there’s one shed where a car has been built!
Reclamation, reuse and restoration feature strongly – and some say that is true of the men too! Although sheds mostly attract older men, some have included younger men, women and young people. Whichever activities are pursued, the essence of a Shed is not a building, which some don’t have, but the network of relationships between the members.
“In our sheds we do things for ourselves, our communities and to support ourselves. We have benches and tools and we learn from each other, mainly about how to do things but also about life. We reuse materials, mend the broken and we make things we are proud of. We are more active than we were, more engaged through our projects, we are talking more, volunteering more and we have more friends. We are out of the house and not under our partner’s feet. When at home, we are happier, better company and more helpful. We feel our health has improved. Mostly we organise the Sheds ourselves with help and donations from our communities.”
So the experience of sheds nationally and internationally is that they are successful in engaging the interest of men, offering opportunities to socialise, to find friendship, to share, to learn and to support each other. The improved health and wellbeing benefits to men through being actively involved in sheds activity is supported by a growing body of evidence.
In West Sussex there are sheds in Petworth, Southbourne and Worthing, with a Crawley shed soon to open. Informal partnership working over the past six months or so between colleagues in West Sussex County Council Public Health; Adur & Worthing Councils; Crawley Dementia Alliance; Horsham Wellbeing; Men in Sheds Worthing and Groundwork South, has given rise to West Sussex Community Sheds.
The West Sussex Community Sheds programme looks to build upon the success of the Sheds movement by offering support and access to funding, to encourage and assist the start-up of new sheds. In particular we want to assist those sheds aiming to involve older men who may be experiencing social isolation or where their health and wellbeing could be positively impacted. Also encouraged are those sheds welcoming the involvement of women whose health and wellbeing might be improved through connecting with community organised activity and peer support.
Having regard to where sheds are currently located in the county, an initial programme focus could be to help the establishment of new sheds in Adur, Arun, Horsham and Mid Sussex.
Want to find out more? Just email any queries to Sheds@westsussex.gov.uk
* UK Men’s Sheds Association