News

A Personal Story: John McGhie The SMSA chats to 97-years-young veteran, toolmaker and golf club manufacturer John McGhie who is the oldest active member of Stonehouse Men’s Shed and the most mature Shedder within the South Lanarkshire Shed network. Here, John shares his life story and how he connected with his local Men’s Shed which he now ‘could not live without’.Born in Stonehouse on the 20th June 1927, John McGhie went to school in the village before leaving at age

A Personal Story: Tom Hollins The SMSA interviews father-of-five, armed forces veteran and Comrie Shedder Tom Hollins (53) who following medical discharge from the army found his local Men’s Shed and is now embarking on a new venture—to set up a veterans’ hub a stone’s throw away from the Shed base at Cultybraggan Camp. Tom, originally from Belfast, had a military upbringing from day one, his dad was in The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) providing recovery and

A Personal Story: George Smith 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

A Personal Story: Alex Hunter 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