Retired chef and Kirkmuirhill and Blackwood Men’s Shed (KBMS) Member John McFall (75) shares his story of feeling ‘forgotten’ following his daughter’s death and subsequent marriage breakdown, turning to alcohol and being on the verge of taking his own life before joining, and feeling saved by, his local Men’s Shed. 

John said: “KBMS has been a lifesaver for me. I know that sounds quite dramatic but it literally has been. I came close to taking my own life a couple of times—I was on the verge and could not see a way out.

“Life has not been easy. My first marriage broke down and I brought up my two young children alone. Over time, I remarried— happily for many years, before tragically losing my daughter to suicide when she was just 27 years old. I didn’t realise at the time how much of an affect that had on me or on the marriage.

“I ended up on my own in a sheltered housing complex—a one bedroom flat and weekends in particular were horrendously lonely. It felt like a prison sentence. I was on my own; with little or no contact with anyone else from day to day.

“I started drinking, basically because it was a kind of comfort for me at the time and helped me sleep, something I was really struggling with. I started using alcohol as a way of getting to sleep rather than seeking help. I was in a very dark place.

“I felt forgotten so began looking for ‘something’. I started doing some local volunteering including cleaning up hospital gardens but unfortunately that role ended too. And then, four years ago, I heard about the Shed and what they’d done and thought ‘I have to look into that’. So I did. I got the information that I needed and drove up to Kirkmuirhill and filled out my membership form there and then—one of the best things I’ve ever done.

The SMSA connects with Dalkeith Men’s Shed Vice-Chairman Duncan Seymour (56), a working Shedder who recently embarked on an eye-opening trip to Japan’s first pilot Men’s Shed—Pokke Kotan in Sapporo. 

Duncan, a Maintenance Technician at an Early Learning Centre in Vogrie, said: “I heard about the Scottish Men’s Sheds Movement through word of mouth and joined just over a year ago. Although I am busy in my working life, I wanted to put in the time to further connect with my community as a type of preparation for my retirement, plus improve on my D.I.Y and woodworking skills. I don’t work on Fridays and the Shed is open from 10am to 1pm that day, so I go along every week to hang out and chat.

“Our Shed, within the One Dalkeith community hub, is currently rented hourly. With only having three hours at the Shed each week, and by the time we have finished catching up with each other, there is not much time left to get in the workshop. But when I do—I love making sticks, spoons, keyrings, wooden jewellery and much more. We have talked about introducing additional opening hours in the evenings and weekends for working members like me, and hopefully we can implement those in the near future and attract new members.

“Through my personal life, career, love of playing rugby and being a member of the Midlothian Walking Rugby Club, I have been fortunate to have travelled the world but, always on a shoe string budget and let’s just say—it has made my journeys a little different to the norm!

“My wife Linda and I were planning another wee break and started looking at East Asia. I looked to see if there were any walking rugby and Men’s Sheds in Japan but could not find anything. A little perseverance and more research and I learned about the Pokke Kotan Men’s Shed—one of only two Sheds in Japan. The other Shed, ’Yo-Ro-Ya’ meaning ’let’s get together, is in the south in the village of Mizukami in Kyushu.

“I reached out to Pokke Kotan and began to correspond with Prof. Chihiro Sugimoto from Hokkaido University. Thankfully Chihiro’s English is very good and we began chatting back and forth about my plans to visit them whilst on holiday.

“Armed with handmade gifts from my fellow Dalkeith Shedders and a wee SMSA gift pack for our Sapporon brothers (including SMSA lapel pin badges and pens), my wife and I flew the 6,000 miles to Osaka on the 20th February before touring around heading north to Hokkaido. We reached Sapporo on Friday 7th March—a day before our planned Shed visit.

“The pilot Men’s Shed, supported by the Japan Community Sheds Association (JCSA) began back in October 2022 and aims to create a supportive community for its local men. Their men suffer from the same issues and problems as our Scottish men do. It is a collaboration project involving various individuals and organisations including Prof Barry Golding, Dr. Ayahito Ito (University of Tohoku) and Dr. Risa Takashima (Hokkaido University) with the goal to provide a space for local men to connect, share experiences, and engage in activities. 

“On the day of our visit, Chihiro picked up my wife and I from our hotel and we navigated the snowy roads for the 45-minute drive to reach the Men’s Shed. Pokke Kotan means ‘warm village’ and we certainly received a warm and friendly welcome on our arrival.

The SMSA interviews 49-year-old George Smith from the Black Isle Men’s Shed who, following a major accident at work, had to give up work in 2005. At a loose end, George started delivering green woodworking tutorials to members in Feddanhill Wood behind Fortrose.

George said: “I had been a carpenter and joiner since the age of 16—travelling all over the UK to wherever the work took me on projects of a transient nature and thoroughly enjoying life. Then in 2005, everything changed.

“I was working on a refurbishment project with a team of other lads but due to a structural architectural defect, the unstable building collapsed on us whilst we were working on the gable end. I quickly managed to shove two lads out of ground floor windows before I was then hit by over eight and a half tonnes of debris. I survived but the building didn’t!

“After hours digging me out, which I thought was only a matter of minutes as I drifted in and out of consciousness, I have been informed by family members that I died several times in the ambulance. I remember waking to smashed teeth, golf-ball-sized dents in my head and a fractured pelvis—and was told about my vapourised hard hat and how I was lucky to be alive.

“On release from hospital, I really didn’t know what to do with myself as I could not ever go back to work. I was heavily medicated and had to use a walking stick and I have had a permanent headache for the last twenty years. My limited mobility meant that I couldn’t get out to do the things that I did before and I spiralled into a depressive rut which severely impacted on my mental health.

“Before the accident, I was quite outgoing and had worked on many high-profile projects including Europe’s first commercial wave generating station on the Isle of Islay. But I had now totally lost my confidence—I was a changed man.

“Then, one day, I saw a post on Facebook that grabbed my attention. A meeting to start up a Black Isle Men Shed and thought it sounded right up my street, literally. To say that it took a lot for me to go along to the Shed that first time is an understatement—I was suffering from panic attacks and social anxiety in other similar scenarios—but thankfully I already knew some of the guys there, as I have lived in the Black Isle for 29 years now, which put me at ease and I felt welcomed and comfortable from day one.

“That was in 2017 and I have been a long-standing member ever since. Our Shed has the use of facilities at Avoch Community Centre which is operated by the 1st Avoch Sea Scouts for the benefit of the community. Our members have access to an indoor workshop, social area (Ward Room) and a storage container, small workshop and a large patio outside to work on larger projects when weather permits.

“I would go along to the Shed at the Avoch centre twice a week and as a team, we all helped get the Shed up and running. We started building our machine shop and work areas at our pace. Everything was great and then COVID reared its ugly head and the centre had to close.

Kirkmuirhill and Blackwood Men’s Shed (KBMS) member Alex Hunter—a Ministry of Defence veteran in his mid-70s with a newfound passion for bodging garden planters—reflects on the impact that the Shed has had on him.

Alex said: “I joined KBMS when it first started up in 2019. We all had a meeting in the local community centre and the place was full with people keen to have their very own local Men’s Shed.

“Forms were handed out asking for our contacts details and to list what we were interested in, good at and what we did in our day-to-day and working lives. I put myself down as a ‘bodger’ cause everything I do is a bodge, if you know what I mean?

“I certainly couldn’t make furniture for a house. I’m just not that neat and finished, but I was never into joinery or carpentry. I had zero woodwork experience and was Ministry of Defence Police for 23 years and before that, a light house keeper, and prior to that I was in the Royal Air Force (RAF). But now that I am in that Shed, oh, I’m right into it.

“The stuff I’ve made in the Shed is unbelievable, for me, and I’m very happy with it. I like to undertake projects like garden planters, after all if there are any wee mistakes—nobody notices, because it’s sitting out in the garden anyway!

“Every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Thursday night, I’m at that Shed. I would say I’m one of the best attendees because I like it so much. And, the company is fantastic—we all get on so well and are all now really good friends.

“It is a fact that I simply would not be living such a happy and fulfilled life in my 70s without the Men’s Shed—it is a huge part of my life”.

– Alex Hunter, Kirkmuirhill and Blackwood Men’s Shed

“We work closely with our neighbouring Shed, Coalburn Men’s Shed too which started up about two years behind us. We helped them out and have remained pals ever since. We’re a good mixture of men, good friends and we look after each other.

“It is a fact that I simply would not be living such a happy and fulfilled life in my 70s without the Men’s Shed—it is a huge part of my life.

“Because I was a storeman in the RAF, I’m also in charge of the stores – mainly the biscuits. It is a responsibility to be taken very seriously—biccies are kept under tight lock and key to make sure the members eat plain biscuits some days and not just the choccy ones!

“I also manage the Shed’s Walking Tours in the good weather from April through to September. We’ve got four different historical walks that we do around the villages where we get groups of up to six to go on a leisurely walk. Every one of our popular walks can be done in under two hours and at an easy pace for all whilst we explain the ‘now and then’ – what’s there now and what used to be there many years ago.

“We look at everything in our surrounding community during the walk and we show pictures to compare the past with present day. We have produced folders upon folders containing all of the photographs and settings. We explain the history of our villages and there is a brilliant uptake for it. We are even educating some of the people that have lived here for decades and this all adds to the enjoyment!

“Without the Shed, I really would be lost. I never want to be stuck in the house looking at four walls or watching mind-numbing daytime television, do you? I want to get out and about, keeping myself busy enough and just have a really good time—and the Shed provides just that for me.”