THE PUBLIC VOTE HAS NOW CLOSED, THE WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED AT THE AWARDS EVENT

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE EVENT ON FRIDAY 10TH NOVEMBER 2023

The awards, now in their fifth year and delivered by the Scottish Men’s Sheds Association (SMSA), recognise and reward the contribution that Men’s Sheds make and raise awareness of the huge impact that they are having in our Scottish communities. 

With over 200 Sheds now open or developing across all 32 local authority areas, this prestigious award aims to celebrate and showcase the life-changing friendships, connections and camaraderie taking place to benefit men’s health and wellbeing.
The awards also afford the opportunity to hear all about the great things happening in Sheds – from the intergenerational projects to partnership working and doing our bit for the environment – in addition to highlighting the challenges and barriers that Sheds are experiencing and what support they require to enable them to grow and thrive.

Our three shortlisted Men’s Sheds are:

2023 Timeline

Opens for applications: Tuesday 18th July 2023
Closed for applications: Midnight on Sunday 24th September 2023
SMSA Board receives ‘blind applications’ to review: Tuesday 26th September 2023
Board decision on their top three:   Midnight on Wednesday 4th October 2023
Shortlist announced and open to public vote: Monday 9th October 2023
Closed to public vote:      Midnight on Sunday 29th October 2023
Winner announced:SMSA AGM/Awards Event on Friday 10th November 2023 from 10am–3pm at Carse of Gowrie Men’s Shed. Register here.


Previous winners:

Last year’s winner was Men’s Shed Govan. Commenting on the award, Men’s Shed Govan Chairman Martin Haddow, said: “We are absolutely delighted to win this award. We have purposefully offered a wide and varied range of activities to meet our members’ needs – after all, not everyone likes woodwork and that is not the be all and end of Men’s Sheds. There is such a strong sense of camaraderie and the Shed has improved the quality of lives of its members by giving them a purpose, people to talk to and things to try and do. We are extremely proud to have turned a previously derelict nursery and undeveloped outdoor space that was being used as a dumping ground into a vital resource for our community that is hugely benefitting the physical and mental health and wellbeing of 70+ members.”

2021 winner was Westhill & District Men’s Shed, the first-ever Scottish Men’s Shed. David Thomson, from the Shed said: “We are absolutely delighted to receive this prestigious title that recognises the achievements, over the last eight years, from our extremely active and committed Board of Trustees and members. We have grown significantly over the years and now welcome over 300 members through our doors—averaging nearly 100 member visits per week.”

In 2020, The Inverclyde Shed was crowned ‘Scottish Men’s Shed of the Year’ 2020 – receiving 36% of the total votes from the public. Bruce Newlands, Chair of The Inverclyde Shed, said: “It was a huge surprise being awarded this title from the SMSA, particularly given the difficulties we and every Shed experienced learning to live with COVID-19. The award has helped unlock doors and make new partnerships with a range of people that we previously had not connected with. Many other Sheds have reached out in friendship to learn from how we’ve done things and the lessons we have learned. The award has also brought a great sense of pride to our Shed and our area – a belief that we can be confident that we are really making a difference.”

In 2019, Aberchirder and District Men’s Shed scooped the title of the very first ‘Scottish Men’s Shed of the Year’.  The Shed was recognised for the incredible work carried out since its inception in 2016 and the team of seven men who carried out 30,000 man-hours over the 104-week construction process on its Shed build before its official opening in May 2019. Mike O’Brien, Chairman of the Aberchirder & District Men’s Shed, said: “Since winning the title in 2019, we have had a busy and successful time – our reputation just seemed to escalate and we have recently won the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service too.”

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