From the yawning spaces of what were once noisy and dusty warehouses, old school classrooms and unused herring factories, a sawmill, an old ski hut and Victorian railway waiting rooms, comes hammering, drilling and the clatter of busy men hard at work.
Through the doors of Scotland’s thriving network of Men’s Sheds have emerged countless bird tables, planters, garden benches - and just about everything in between.
There have been handmade boats and repaired clocks, lovingly carved wooden ornaments, intricate models of planes and trains, pots of honey and garden sculptures, upcycled furniture and that much-loved shed-built classic, go-karts.
Having started around a decade ago as places to go for men of a certain age and at a loose end, Men’s Sheds have become a vital support system for widowers, veterans and any man from 18 to 80 and beyond looking for a bit of company, conversation and camaraderie.
Now as the organisation behind Scotland’s 204 Men’s Sheds marks its tenth anniversary and celebrates International Men’s Day on November 19 with a series of open days, it appears the movement has touched far more aspects of Scottish life than was ever really expected.
Including, according to Jason Schroeder, who helped launch Scotland’s first Men’s Shed, saving at least a few marriages.
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“The man retires, he’s out of job, he gets under his wife’s feet, and it drives her nuts,” he explains, explaining the combination of factors that led to the first Scottish Men’s Shed initiative in Westhill, Aberdeenshire.
“She often has her social network, but men are quite poor at that. We tend to socialise by working or doing things together.
“When we are not doing things together, we tend to sit. Men need a bit of extra help.”
He was a council development officer in Aberdeen when he became curious as to why so few men were seen at the community centres he visited.
“I’d emigrated to Scotland and wanted to find older men who could mentor me and help me be a better father in a new country.
“But short of going down the road of pubs and football, where do you find men?
“I wondered what was happening to older men when they’re no longer working.”
Jason, a South African Marine Corps veteran, was also aware of the challenges facing ex-servicemen returning to civilian life.
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When he heard of a new men’s shed movement in Australia and New Zealand, he set about exploring if it might work here, if there was a need, and any interest among men.
GPs he spoke to confirmed concerns over men’s mental health, particularly among retired, widowed and out of work men.
And local advice services revealed regular enquiries from wives seeking guidance on where jobless or retired husbands could go. With men under their feet at home, some even asking about how to go about getting a divorce.
By 2013, a disused library at Westhill on the outskirts of Aberdeen had become Scotland’s first Men’s Shed.
“Within around nine months, we had six sheds,” recalls Jason. “I realised this was really flying.”
The Scottish Men’s Shed Association was formed in 2014 to help interested men launch their own sheds.
Since then, SMSA’s blueprint has spread to 16 countries around the world, from the United States of America to Canada, South Africa to Finland.
While across Scotland, Men’s Sheds are found in sprawling urban centres and rural settings, with studies showing how they help boost the mental and social wellbeing of retired men.
One now underway by Glasgow Caledonian University’s Yunus Centre for Social Business and Health is exploring how Men's Sheds might work for working-aged men in socially disadvantaged areas of Scotland.
“It is probably the biggest health movement for men to date,” adds Jason.
“The sheds are so diverse but underpinning each is that it’s a social space for men to meet with a purpose.”
But as well as supporting the men who visit them, Men’s Sheds have helped breathe new life into parts of their own communities.
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Such as at Nairn, where 70 members meet in two Victorian railway station waiting rooms which had been unused and in need of repair before they took them over.
“Nairn Men’s Shed is a place where two men, who have work and life experiences that are poles apart – who would probably have never crossed paths before – meet and bond. This is what it is all about,” says former Chairman John Rushforth.
At Creetown, near Galloway, Kirkdale Men’s Shed is in part of an old sawmill, and at Achnamara on the shores of Loch Sween, Shed-na-Mara is run from a former forestry shed.
From there, ‘shedders’ built a community coastal rowing skiff, helping keep traditional skills alive as well boosting locals’ health and fitness.
Elsewhere, empty schools have been revived often as a result of Community Asset Transfer: Biggar and District Men’s Shed, and sheds at Banff and Maryburgh in Dingwall all occupy former local school buildings.
One ambitious project saw an old ski hut in the Lowther Hills dismantled and moved to the centre of Leadhills. It was fitted with solar panels to become a base for Lowther Men’s Shed.
Men’s Sheds have also become increasingly engaged with the communities around them.
Some have forged connections with schools, building gardens so pupils can grow their own vegetables, creating playground furniture and sharing knowledge: Bridge of Don & District Men’s Shed built a solar-power polytunnel at Forehill Primary School helping pupils learn of food production, renewable energy and recycling.
Govan’s Men’s Shed turned wasteland into a community garden complete with boules.
While shedders at Alford, Arbroath, Cromarty Firth, Elgin, Ellon Forres, Finechty and Ullapool have been building mink rafts to be used by the Scottish Invasive Species Initiative.
The floating rafts are first used to identify mink are in the area, then set to ‘trap’ mode.
The traps helped the SISI break their record for mink captures in a single year, with 190 caught by mid-September.
Sheds are found from Yell in Shetland to Jack and Jill’s Community Shed in Whithorn.
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Many who pass through their doors come with stories of loss or loneliness. Mike Rowlinson helped establish Dunfermline Men’s Shed not realising it would be the crutch to help him cope with his wife Helen’s sudden death.
“The Shed really has been my salvation. The support from the guys has been superb,” he said recently.
“Without the Shed, and the passion I have for it, I would have way too much time on my hands… and know I would currently be in a downward spiral.”
Although most ‘shedders’ are in the 60 plus age group, increasing numbers of men in their 30s and younger are being drawn to them, says Jason.
Some want to learn DIY skills or a new hobby such as gardening. There are some who want to ‘give back’ to their community or just get out of the house after days of working from home.
Stuart Paton,41, from Kilbirnie remembers being recommended to try Garnock Valley Men’s Shed after a difficult period which had led to an attempt to take his own life.
“Straight away it was obvious they were great lads,” he says.
“I got the sense that everyone was either going through something of their own, had been through something or understood what it was like.
“It was peer support.
“At the Men’s Shed, you’re not consciously talking about it, nothing is being pushed and it’s just men having a talk.”
There can be banter too: the kind that once echoed around Scotland’s now long gone factory floors.
That’s part of the “magic”, says Bruce Newlands, an architect who, seeking an outlet for his own creative skills and balance from the isolation of working from home, helped establish Inverclyde Men’s Shed in Greenock.
“Making things and helping others is my own therapy,” he says. “And you find you can learn a lot about life from speaking to the 79-year-old who is there too.
“A lot of the guys that come have probably worked all their lives, and once they retire, life gets stuck.
“This means they have got something that happened that day, it’s not just sitting at home, watching TV or online all day. They’re not in the pub, they’re maybe repairing something or making something.”
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The oldest member at Inverclyde is in his mid-80s, but men of all ages turn up, he adds. The shed, in a large former warehouse, has expanded to welcome women too.
Its impact is felt across the area: the ‘shedders’ have helped build community gardens, planted orchards and made plinths for museum displays.
“There are guys that come who are dealing with bereavement and loneliness, but we’re not necessarily talking about these things.
“Instead, it’s about connecting with one another, and for some it’s about moving on.
“Often it’s just camaraderie, banter and making a cup of tea.”
Scottish Men’s Sheds around the country are marking International Men’s Day with open days on November 19. For more, go to https://scottishmsa.org.uk/doorsopen
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