After two years without a Shed building, the SMSA catches up with Orkney Men’s Shed Chairman Morgan Harcus to discuss their journey so far and their exciting plans for a fresh start at their new premises in Garson Park, Stromness.
In October last year, it was announced that Orkney Men’s Shed, along with two other charities – Stromness Drama Club and the Orkney Historical Boat Society– would be granted a 10-year lease for the Old Herring Factory building with ample space and storage for their members and potential for growth. And now, the Orcadian Shedders are in the building, unpacked and raring to go.
Morgan said: “I was made aware of Men’s Sheds seven years ago through former Westhill & District Men’s Shed Chairman Dave Thomson who invited me to visit their Shed. Within minutes of coming through the door, I just knew that Orkney could benefit from a Shed.
“Not long after that, Voluntary Action Orkney (VAO) arranged a public meeting at The Life Centre to raise awareness of Men’s Sheds and discuss the potential for having one in Orkney. I was amazed that 55 interested people turned up to that meeting to support the proposal. From there, we formed a committee – all five members bring their own individual skills and are still on the committee today plus two new Trustees.
“From day one, the Committee has been working towards a common goal to help local men. Luckily, we all get along so well and got to work with the task ahead. We all made the decision to put in £50 each to set up a bank account for the charity and we received Westhill Men’s Shed’s constitution to use as a template and adapt it, with VAO’s help, to meet our needs.
“Then came the hunt for premises. We originally applied for a former primary school which had been empty for 17 years and would have made an ideal Shed but after several meetings with the local authority we were unfortunately unsuccessful in our pursuit. That night, I was extremely disheartened but decided to take action and began looking at the local paper’s property section and saw a building for sale in Finstown on Maitland Place. I phoned the man selling it, who strangely had the same initials as me and was a Harcus too. He explained that they had been trying to sell the building for a while and they were now considering taking it off the market to lease it out. He also mentioned that someone else had contacted him and was interested in the building.
“That same evening, I got a call from our Secretary Andy Swain asking why I was looking at the same building as him and it turned out that he was the other interested party! Well, not too long after that, we signed the lease on the building and applied for a change of use. Thanks to the generosity of the public, we soon had it up and running and kitted out with donated tools and machinery and we held our official opening on the 29th September 2017 with over 200 people in attendance.
“Over the years, we made many improvements to the building and something that was extremely important to us was to make the building fully accessible for our members. To achieve this, we required a disabled toilet and access. Unfortunately, our planning application was refused by Orkney Islands Council (OIC) due to road safety/vehicle access concerns and our appeal was also rejected.
“We were asked to vacate the premises in October 2019 and had just lost our Shed when COVID struck. Due to the pandemic, members started meeting virtually but we felt like we were losing the contact of what Men’s Sheds are all about. When it was safe to do so, we started holding meetings temporarily at the Finstown Community Centre who were very kind to only charge us £10 a meeting.
“We enjoyed chatting and planning and also held ‘Bring and Tell’ sessions which went down a treat however, we just had to find premises for our members to meet and do what a Shed should. Our members are men from their early 20s to late 80s – a great mix of lads with various skills, experience, backgrounds and interests – and we just could not lose these intergenerational bonds and friendships. Having no workshop made life difficult as we couldn’t work on community projects or raise funds through this avenue either.
“One day, I was talking to the Interim Chief Executive of OIC John Mundell who we have a brilliant relationship with. He was listening to our woes and dreams of a new build and plot of land, when he said ‘I will fix this for you’. Not long after that, discussions around the 15-year-old two-storey Old Herring Factory building, which had been empty for 10 years.
“Any attempts to sell the building were unsuccessful and the council offered it to us, and two other charities, on an initial 10-year lease at a nominal rent. The building required a bit of work to be done by the council to bring it up to today’s standards such as replacement of the lift and adaptations to the disabled toilet but on out first viewing, we were really impressed and it did not need any big work or investment from us.
“The only downfall with the new building is its location is in Stromness which for some of our members would double the distance to travel. Our Finstown site was far more central. The new building however is significantly bigger than our last Shed, and fully accessible, and therefore gives us the potential to grow and welcome new members. The other two charities using the building will primarily use it for storage so the rest of the space is ours. The Shed’s allocated rooms includes a workshop with large woodworking area, a craft/computing room, electrical testing and repair room, a large social area/canteen and lots of storage.
“In addition to the computers in our craft room, there will also be space for modelling, Japanese Kumiko, watch and camera maintenance, pyrography, leatherworking etc – and with additional space there is also scope for more to be implemented to meet our members’ needs.
“Plans in the pipeline include purchasing a 3D printer, aspirations for a new metalworking space, picture framing and a tool sharpening service. We also plan to promote the Shed’s new premises as much as possible and are attending three upcoming agricultural shows to do just that. We also extend an invitation for Sheds and community groups to come visit us and see the new premises – we recently welcomed a visit from the Deerness Senior Citizens who had a fantastic day.
“We must thank John Mundell, Karen Greaves (OIC’s Head of Executive Support), James Stocken (Council Leader), elected members of the Council and others who helped get us back in a Shed so our charity can get back to what we do best – supporting men’s health and wellbeing. We were delighted to be mentioned by Christine Grahame MSP at the recent Scottish Parliament debate on Men’s Sheds and recognised for our vital work. The support we have received from the community has been huge, they really appreciate what we are trying to achieve here.
“We were so happy in our previous Shed and if none of this had happened then we would still be there today however, after everything we have been through, we strongly believe everything happens for a reason and it is onwards and upwards from here on. We have come out the other side and are delighted with the new space we have. We currently have 160 members but this is constantly growing and we are delighted to have welcomed a good few new members recently and with that brings fresh ideas.
“Orkney is not a huge place but there is certainly room for more than one Shed on the islands. We have been delighted to support the new Sanday Men’s Shed as it develops. We visited them and presented our work and we have also offered them some of our surplus tools to get them started. We will continue to help them in any way we can. Recently, a group of us also visited Flotta to help them establish a Shed which will bring the count of Sheds in Orkney to three.
“Over the last few months, members have been at the new premises clearing and setting up our new space and moving all 18 pallets full of our tools and equipment. The workshop is almost up and running ready to start with our list of 17 (and counting) projects and the new lift has just been installed earlier this month. We are looking forward to the members dusting off their flat caps, bib and brace/boilersuits and sharpening the chisels and plane irons ready to go.”
OIC Councillor Leslie Manson said: “I am delighted that not only are we divesting ourselves of a building that has been standing empty, but much more importantly we are breathing new life into three very meritorious organisations whose charitable activities undoubtedly contribute to, and have been evidenced to promote, the improvement of health and social wellbeing, cultural heritage and involvement of our young people – this is what Orkney is all about.
Orkney Men’s Shed is planning an official opening in September 2022 (watch this space) but in the meantime, they are open to members and potential new members on Tuesdays and Thursdays 10am to 4pm. Follow their new beginning on Facebook and/or visit their website for the latest updates.