Mens Sheds

I’ve recently discovered my local Men’s Shed and it’s quickly become a Third Place I make a point of blocking time out for. Even at my first visit, I was in awe at the sheer amount of support and inclusion that was just present every where I turned! I’ve not looked back since and would encourage any man seeking to extend their social circle to seek out their local Men’s Shed. I’ll explain a little about Men’s Sheds in case you’re not familiar with them. Essentially, they’re sheds that men can meet in to tinker with things and chat – normally you would join as a member, but most things with Men’s Sheds seem to be quite flexible. Each Shed has its own style, but the fundamentals involve tinkering and chatting. And tea. And biscuits. The tinkering is absolutely key, and what better place to tinker than in a shed? Tools are apparently drawn to sheds by some fundamental law of nature, and it’s a similar story with ‘useful bits of wood’ and ‘things that could be made into something interesting’. The type of man that can’t resist interesting tools, spare bits of wood, and unusual items that can be made into something else, will be sure to meet like-minded people at their local Men’s Shed. There is always something creative happening, and always someone around that will be interested in what you are doing – conversations and inclusion are inevitable and take little more effort than a comment such as ‘Oh, what are you making?’ or ‘Does anyone have any ideas about how to cut this into a neat circle?’, or maybe ‘What happened to the sander I saw last week?’ Part of (my) definition of ‘tinkering’ is that it doesn’t really matter what happens. The low-stakes nature of the sort of projects undertaken at Men’s Sheds leads a wonderfully relaxed atmosphere. There is no pressure to finish anything, or create ‘perfect’ items for someone that may reject them if they are not good enough. Join in as much as you like, miss a week if you need to, just stand around and chat if that’s all...