A Word from our Chairman’

REPORTING ON THE 1ST APRIL 2023 TO 31ST MARCH 2024 PERIOD

First and foremost, I would like to begin by expressing my sincere thanks to our loyal and long-standing staff team and trustees for their invaluable efforts again this year.

During another difficult year, full of financial insecurity, our committed team has always stayed strong together and gone that extra mile, time and time again, for the Scottish Men’s Sheds Movement.

The uncertainty of the future of our national support hub was under threat yet again as the Scottish Government announced for the third time, its decision to cut ties with us altogether and stop funding our vital charity. However, I am delighted that—following a lot of hard work and time—our campaign to reverse this decision was a success.

It is unfortunate that we had to down tools away from our support services and take such drastic measures to change their minds through our campaign and call for support through the 38 Degrees petition and media outlets however, with our charity at risk of closure, we simply had no other choice.

The amount received (£75,000) from the Scottish Government in the end however, is sadly much less than we require. This temporary ‘bandage’ will only permit us to stay open until the end of the 2024/2025 financial year—even with reduced staff and resources.
The SMSA has now been moved to a new portfolio within the Scottish Government—the Equality, Inclusion & Human Rights Directorate—and are working with a new team of civil servants and Ministers.

Myself, our CEO and Treasurer are meeting with them regularly to share our development plans and budgets and it is hoped that with improved sharing and understanding of the work we do, that a new and longer-term partnership can be agreed.
As a result of reduced funding, we had to begin to implement a new development team structure to cover the whole of Scotland in the future. It is such a vast area to cover to offer travel for face-to-face visits and support delivery to over 200 Sheds but we will certainly do our best to implement a new system.

The news was also announced that the Borders Shed Development Officer post was not to be renewed by their council so that region also lost a great asset and this has put additional pressure on our small team and we are already seeing the impact of this. It is hoped that the new Equalities team will become the linchpin to achieving our three-year development strategy with the continued support of our existing funders making up the difference.

Over the last year especially, I am thrilled to report an impressive increase in the number of calls that both the SMSA staff and trustees have been receiving from the media on men’s health and wellbeing matters. For instance, when the news broke of King Charles III’s cancer diagnosis, I was contacted to promote the Men’s Sheds Movement and the importance of men opening up to talk about their health issues and concerns and potentially save lives.

It has taken a long time to get here but we are delighted with these requests and our improved relationship with the local and national media outlets. It has been one of our visions to be one of the first ports of calls for the media on these issues and it looks like that is finally starting to happen.

Over the course of the year, my fellow SMSA Trustees and I voluntarily supported 26 Men’s Shed groups through face-to-face visits or
online support and this regional representation, to further complement the work of the staff team, is only on the increase. Our Trustees are all Scottish Shedders that give our time to run Sheds in our own communities and we know the Shed model inside and out.
The trustees are vital ambassadors representing the SMSA and supporting Sheds in their regions using their learned knowledge and experience. We are always on the lookout for additional enthusiastic and visionary Shedders to strengthen our board even further, so if this sounds like you please do get in touch.

Our ‘Scottish Men’s Shed of the Year’ Awards continue to go from strength to strength and in November 2023, ‘new Shed on the Block’ Banff, Macduff and District Men’s Shed claimed the title proving that you don’t have to be a long-established Shed to go on to win!
Our small, but mighty, charity is set to celebrate its first decade in September 2024 and we will strive to secure our footing as the largest member-led male health and wellbeing charity in Scotland with now over 3,700 individual members.

Our outlook for the year ahead is set to be another challenging one but as we keep saying—and it is quickly becoming our slogan—you just can’t keep a good thing down!