Men’s Sheds are set up by and run by volunteers but who supports those volunteers in our Scottish communities?
This is where the Scottish Men’s Sheds Association (SMSA) and their latest awareness-raising animation comes in.
Men’s Shed members and trustees are all volunteers and these volunteers require someone at the end of the phone or an email or to meet with them one-to-one to take the time to provide Shed-specific information, advice, resources and tools to support them and save them reinventing the wheel.
Over the last nine years, since the SMSA’s inception, the Association has been ‘In Scotland For Scotland’, and not affiliated with any other organisations, to support volunteers in their local towns and communities along this development pathway to grow the Scottish Men’s Sheds Movement to what it is today—whether their Shed is fully open, just developing or a group of men wanting to chat about an embryonic idea for their community.
SMSA CEO Jason Schroeder said: “This animation and raising awareness of what we do across Scotland to garner financial support is key to our strategies and brings us closer to achieving our vision to have a Men’s Shed in every single town and city in Scotland to reach all men over the age of 18 living in Scotland so that they are better informed of the support we can provide them and to maximise their use of it.
“The animation is a useful tool when reaching out to partner organisations and grant supporters/funders to fully explain the vital work we do to keep the Movement thriving. Across the globe, there are 3,000+ Men’s Shed groups across 16 countries all supported by a national body similar to the SMSA and the successful Scottish model is now being replicated by other countries—which we are humbled by and immensely proud of.
“The SMSA team is just a call, a click or a trip away from delivering tailored advice to save any duplication of effort at every stage of the Shed journey. We are just a small team but with a big job to do and strive to provide a wide range of services including Shed visits, online support, a comprehensive website filled with all the information from starting up a Men’s Shed to becoming a sustainable Shed, a members’ database, online members’ resource library, Shed Network meetings across ten regions and national events and gatherings.”
“In addition to this, our charity also provides Shed membership benefits with discounts from our partner organisations, mediation services, a ‘Find a Shed’ map for potential Shedders to find the Shed closest to them, and regular updates relevant to Scottish Men’s Sheds through The Scottish Shedder magazine, Shedloads of Opportunities Bulletin, email communications and our popular social media channels.
“As a focused men’s health and wellbeing charity, we support thousands of our members and hundreds of open and developing Men’s Shed groups. We are here to inspire and support volunteers and through our work, the chances are that we will have the solution to your problem or challenge. We will continue to focus on men’s health in Scotland and do our bit in creating a healthy and thriving country.”
Help change our Scottish communities for the better and improve men’s lives through Men’s Sheds by liking and sharing this new animation with your networks to help more volunteers succeed on their Shed development pathway.
Please share these awareness-raising animations widely with your networks.
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