Halesworth Men's Shed Celebrates 10th Anniversary

 

The Halesworth Men's Shed has celebrated its 10th anniversary.

The Men's Shed movement effectively started in the UK early this century when a young man, travelling in Australia, saw the impact that Men's Sheds were having there. He called his father in the UK and told him to start something similar here.

At the end of 2013, there was a Breakfast Television item about Men's Sheds, which prompted a couple of men in Halesworth to investigate. This resulted in Halesworth Men's Shed being formed in 2014 as shed number 47.  There are now more than 1000 sheds open in the UK.

In Summer 2014, the Halesworth Men's Shed was formally unveiled by Annette Dunning, then chair of Halesworth Town Council. The publicity resulted in around 30 men showing interest and around 5cwt of donated tools.  About 20 men resolved to meet every Saturday morning for coffee in Chinny's until they were eventually offered occupancy of the former Micropress bindery warehouse a few yards away.  During 2014/2015 the room was transformed into the workshop that exists today.

Annette Dunning opening the Halesworth Men's Shed with Douglas Mizon in summer 2014

"The biggest challenge for most sheds is premises and the cost of those," said Doug Mizon, one of the founders of the Halesworth Shed. "Most sheds won't start without premises"

The new premises were opened in September 2015.  The Shed currently has about 50 members, men, and women, and continues to provided first-class facilities for a range of woodworking, metalworking, jewellery-making and occasional pottery activities. Some for our own members, some for members of the public and some for other not-for-profit organisations.

"Sheds don't have to start big. They could start out in an empty shop or a village hall. So long as you have a space the size of a double garage, you can get going," says Mr Mizon.

Sheds provide a valuable resource for older men in particular.

"They allow older men to continue to use skills they used when they worked, perhaps to learn something new and also to mix with some good company," says Mr Mizon.

"a lot of older men, in particular, sit at home, watch too much TV, eat and drink too much and die too soon" he says.

There is a need to recruit younger people, to keep the shed alive, but it is difficult to get younger people to come along. "Younger people can learn a lot from older people, in a shed".

The shed has had notable successes in its time: "We had a younger chap with severe phobias. He had to walk out of the shed from time to time,

"One of our members was very good with the lathe. He helped the younger chap learn and become quite proficient with it. This gave him confidence he didn't seem to have when he joined the shed,

"Eventually, this helped him get a job. I don't think he'd have had the confidence to get that job without having been to the shed

"We've also had quite a few members with serious illnesses, who've been able to come and talk about their conditions, which they've found very helpful".

Halesworth Shed is open every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 10am until 2pm and on Saturday from 10 until 12.  Anyone is welcome to call in to visit during those hours.  Anyone with questions can call the shed on 01986 835905 or email shedhalesworth@gmail.com. 

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(c) Jez Donaldson, Freelance Journalist and Men's Shed member.