Start a Men’s Shed
Establishing Your Men’s Shed:
Starting a Men’s Shed is a great journey and unique; however, there are certain steps that every Shed has in common. Your Shed’s character will be a result of the skills and needs of the men involved in it. Before beginning your plans for your Shed, it is important that you connect with others. People, like you, who are interested in creating a space for men to get together. Not all Sheds are the same or do the same activities. The key to understand what to do is to start with what you have at hand. The venue where you meet will become your Shed. Sheds can be anything, from a front room in a house, a hall, an upcycled container or even an actual shed. If you are starting from the ground up, consider having a first venue that is free, or at a very low cost and accessible.
Essential Steps and Guidance:
How to engage your community?
Try to find like-minded people, connect with existing groups, host a coffee morning or open meeting. Pay a visit to groups which have activities for the community in your area. Ask for a time in their slot to talk about starting Men’s Sheds. Community centres, events, libraries, church halls and social gatherings are good places to start.
What activities will we do?
Once you have interested people on board do a skills audit. You will find out what type of abilities they have, and work from that to decide what activity to do. Examples of activities: Woodworking, walking groups, horticulture/ gardening, day trips, sporting events, heritage & cultural projects, musical groups, educational and skills training, arts, crafts and creative projects. It is also worth remembering that Sheds should be a safe place to relax, this extends to members who may simply just want to sit quietly and read a book by themselves.
Where to get support?
Groundwork NI can provide support and assistance to existing and new Men’s Sheds. The support offered is bespoke to the individual shed. Examples include training, action planning, arranging visits to other Sheds, networking events, sourcing funding, registering with Northern Ireland Charities Commission and developing policies and procedures.
What are things to consider at this stage?
Forecast cost: The running costs of your venue need to be considered, in deciding which activity and venue. Your Shed should be welcoming and safe. Some Sheds would cover these costs from memberships, donations and selling of their crafts. Others will be under the umbrella of a bigger organisation, who may contribute towards the running costs of the Shed.
Resources:
Below are all the documents you need to get started.