The Scottish Men’s Sheds Association (SMSA) has teamed up with Scotmid to offer Scottish Men’s Sheds a promotional opportunity during Men’s Health Week (13th-19th June 2022) in 35 Scotmid stores.

To kick off Men’s Health Week, these 35 Scotmid stores are offering a full-day exhibition space – to accommodate a 6ft table, banner and up to two Shed representatives – to a local Men’s Shed on Monday 13th June 2022 (9.30am-6.30pm) to raise awareness of the Shed and attract new members. As Scotmid has a ‘Charity of the Year’ partnership in place, Sheds will not have the opportunity to fundraise, however each Shed can display and take orders for their Sheds products on the day. 

Lynne Ogg, Scotmid Community Manager (North region), said: “We are delighted to team up with the SMSA to raise awareness of Men’s Sheds and the wealth of benefits these can bring to men’s health and wellbeing. This is the perfect way to mark and celebrate Men’s Health Week in our Scottish stores.”

Jason Schroeder, SMSA Chief Executive Officer, said: “The SMSA is working in partnership with Scotmid to offer this excellent promotional opportunity for Sheds to showcase the services and facilities that they have to offer local men aged 18+. We would encourage the Men’s Sheds local to these participating stores to register their interest fast as spaces will be allocated on a first-come first-served basis.”

Register interest (by midnight on Thursday 2nd June 2022) if your Shed is local to one of the participating stores.

Participating Scotmid stores are as follows: 

Moray-based professional theatre company Right Lines Productions is delighted to announce its brand-new production will debut at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this August as part of the Pleasance Theatre Trust’s Edinburgh National Partnerships programme.

How does a man find his purpose when he grows old and major life events come thick and fast? Should he retire to the solitude of The Shed as usual and escape from the world, or get out and try something new? When the familiar rules no longer apply, is it too late to change the habits of a lifetime?

Man Shed is a bitter-sweet one-man theatre piece which explores the joy of sheds, the pain of loss and the comfort of friendship. The play has been inspired by Men’s Sheds around the world, but more specifically by the work of the Scottish Men’s Sheds Association.

Man Shed is written by Euan Martin, directed by Dave Smith, and produced by Right Lines Productions. Writer Euan Martin from Right Lines said: “After an extended period of inactivity due to the pandemic, it is fantastic to be presenting live theatre once again. Man Shed was due to premiere in May 2020, but because of the national lockdown, the tour had to be cancelled. We were fortunate to be selected for the Pleasance Edinburgh National Partnerships programme, supported by Eden Court Theatre, Inverness.  This will allow us to present Man Shed in one of the most prominent and prestigious venues at the Edinburgh Fringe.”

Susannah Armitage, Senior Producer at Eden Court Theatre, said: “Eden Court is delighted to be supporting Man Shed by Right Lines as part of our inaugural involvement in the Pleasance Edinburgh National Partnership project. Man Shed is a very touching and pertinent tale about loneliness, friendship and where you find community. It is also warm and funny and will speak to lots of different audiences and we are sure that it will do well at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Right Lines have long been established as a theatre company making and touring work across the Highlands and we are really pleased to be collaborating with them in this context.”

The Edinburgh Fringe run at The Pleasance marks the world premiere of the show. The show previews on the 3^rd and 4^th August and continues until Monday 29^th August (with the exception of Wed 10^th, Mon 15^th and Mon 22^nd August). 

Tickets for the 60-minute show are available from www.pleasance.co.uk/event/man-shed/performances

On Monday evening (28th February), SMSA CEO Jason Schroeder and SMSA Chairman David Gardner will represent the Scottish Men’s Sheds Movement at the inaugural meeting of the Global Men’s Shed Forum—an alliance of international Men’s Sheds associations.

The SMSA will join representatives from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States and Wales on Zoom to discuss ‘Where are Sheds at right now?’ and ‘What do you see on the horizon for Sheds in your country?’.

The SMSA will continue to keep our members and supporters updated on the progress and outcomes of this new Forum.

The Story Wagon is a touring arts space providing free creative writing, story-telling and reading facilities and activities to communities across Scotland.

The founder of Story Wagon, Luke Winter, is a writer that makes stories happen. Luke said: “I moved to London in 2013 to do freelance work and that is where I began busking with my typewriter. I started to write stories for people in the streets to make them smile. 

“On my return to Scotland in early 2020, I noticed that the high street was unfortunately not as popular as it used to be so I decided to look for funding to create a ‘space’ that could pop-up in town squares and outside community centres to enable me to talk to people and let them write and share stories.

“I got in touch with Jason at the SMSA to chat about how Scottish Men’s Sheds and Shedders could become involved with the Story Wagon project but unfortunately, the pandemic put those plans on hold.

“Making the wagon through lockdown was a brilliant experience. The wagon is the end result of so many talented and generous people. We had many craftsmen and volunteers involved in the build and utilised various types of wood including Ash to make the front doors, Douglas fir to form the back gable along with pitch pine. We also recycled and repurposed materials where possible to give them a new lease of life.

“In August 2021, we had our first-ever outing in the wagon in Skye and it has grown from there. We have been popping up all across Scotland and our travels have taken us to Castle Douglas, Edinburgh and Paisley to name but a few.

“The Story Wagon is now a sanctuary for everyone to get creative and express their stories. It is a welcoming pop-up writing den that provides desk space, cups of tea, typewriters, voice recorders, books and good old-fashioned paper and pen.

“It hosts a programme of writing, reading-out-loud and storytelling activities. Its large veranda can be unfurled to provide sheltered outdoor arts activities.

“We are excited that as part of Visit Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022—a national programme of more than 60 in-person, virtual

and hybrid events—the wagon will be hitting the road to tour and are reaching out to Sheds to see if there is interest in them becoming involved in this journey.

“Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022 will celebrate stories inspired by, written, or created in  Scotland. We all have a story to tell and the wagon is here to help everyone share them with others.

“Touring will take place from the end of March until the end of October and I would love to hear if Sheds would like the wagon to ‘pop-up’ near them to see their members. Shedders are also very welcome to join in on the Scotland’s Year of Stories events where the wagon will be featured.” 

For more information on the Story Wagon and to see photos and videos from the wagon build project, please visit the website at www.storywagon.co.uk and follow its journey on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Is your Shed interested in becoming involved in The Story Wagon Scotland tour?

Contact Luke Winter at luke@storywagon.co.uk

*THIS EVENT HAS NOW PASSED

The aim of this cross-nation event is to demystify social prescribing* for Men’s Sheds, through presentations of Shedder experiences, recent research findings and a panel discussion and opportunity for Q&A.

*Social prescribing is a community referral. GPs, nurses and other health care professionals can refer people to a range of local non-clinical services (like Men’s Sheds) to improve their health and wellbeing.

This event will bring together the cross-nation Shed network and social prescribing organisations and is open to anyone with an interest or involvement in Men’s Sheds (across the UK and Ireland) and to anyone working or involved in social prescribing.

The event will cover:

• Social Prescribing and Men’s Sheds – research findings presentation (Dr Bryony Porter, University of East Anglia).
• Social Prescribing in Practice – the perspective of a social prescribing organisation
• Men’s Sheds Social Prescribing Case Studies
• Panel Discussion and Q&A

This event is a cross-nation collaboration organised by Dr Bryony Porter (University of East Anglia), Dr Dani Hutcheon (Glasgow Caledonian University) and Aisling McGrath (Waterford Institute of Technology) who have each worked on research projects with Men’s Sheds. 

IMPORTANT NOTE

In advance of the event, the organisers are asking attendees (especially Shedders) to complete a small questionnaire to harvest their knowledge on social prescribing. If your Shed has experience of social prescribing, please complete the questionnaire to share your thoughts to support the event discussions on the day.