The Scottish Men’s Sheds Association (SMSA) charity – the national support hub for 200+ Scottish Shed groups and Scotland’s largest member-led men’s health and wellbeing charity – has secured a second year of grant funding of £20,000 from the Bank of Scotland Foundation’s REACH funding programme.
The grant will contribute towards the salary of one of the SMSA’s regional Development Officer’s on the ground to support existing Scottish Men’s Sheds to remain sustainable and set up new ones in communities where there is disadvantage and social exclusion.
SMSA CEO Jason Schroeder said: “The SMSA, since its inception in 2014, has created a tailored and unique solution-focused step-by-step pathway for new Men’s Shed groups to successfully tackle the developmental requirements keeping a voluntary group of men engaged month after month.
“There are an estimated 10,000+ Men’s Shed volunteers across Scotland and with this excellent announcement of continued financial support from the Bank of Scotland Foundation, we can continue to support the Men’s Shed model and ensure that these highly-valued volunteers are not overwhelmed by the task of opening and sustaining a Men’s Shed in their local community.
“This grant will help provide vital one-to-one localised support face-to-face from a Development Officer in real time which we have found significantly lowers the anxiety in those holding the positions of voluntary responsibility in the Sheds as they feel less alone in having to deal with their challenges. These challenges are often unique to working with men’s groups and by ‘speaking their language’ the solution-focused results have been remarkable and encouraging in keeping the Sheds open and the groups continuing to grow and thrive.
“Although we have grown the movement over the last decade to where it is today, unfortunately due to a lack of core Scottish Government funding, as we see for our counterparts in countries like Ireland, I believe we have only reached 30% of Scotland’s full development potential. It is our vision that one day, every man in Scotland will have access to—and the opportunity to attend—their local Men’s Shed if they choose to do so and we are delighted that the Bank of Scotland Foundation is continuing to support this aim.”
Donald MacKechnie, Chair of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees and Insurance & Wealth Transformation and Strategy Director, Lloyds Banking Group said, “We are delighted to award the SMSA with this funding for a second year. The cost of living crisis means many charities are struggling with increasing expenditure, at a time when the demand for their services is as great as ever. Our grant awards will help charities through the challenging months ahead.”
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