Members of Westhill and District Men’s Shed gathered on Monday 27th September 2021 to officially receive the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS) to recognise and reward the outstanding contribution made by their volunteers to benefit the community of Westhill and surrounding area.
The Lord-Lieutenant of Aberdeenshire, Mr Alexander Philip Manson, presented the QAVS award crystal, certificate and pin badges for the members to Shed Chairman David Thomson and received a tour of the impressive Shed facilities—the first-ever Men’s Shed in Scotland—and also had an opportunity to chat with Shed Trustees, Shedders and invited guests.
David said: “It is an honour and a privilege to receive this prestigious award on behalf of our 300 members of the Westhill Men’s Shed. The award recognises the contribution made by our members, who are all volunteers, in supporting the local and wider community. It also recognises that attending the Shed and participating in the wide range of activities available is an important contributor to our members’ health and wellbeing.”
The award featured special recognition for the COVID-19 work carried out by the members. In the early days of lockdown, the Shed was made aware of the grave shortages in personal protective equipment (PPE) for their local care homes when Shed Secretary and founding member, Nick Pilbeam, was visiting a Shed member (unfortunately now deceased).
Nick said: “Shed members did some research and learned that face shields could be made simply with a 3D printer and an A4 sheet of acetate. A project team was quickly set up to tackle the issue using our Shed printer however we soon realised that the volume needed to be increased quickly and therefore recruited over 20 individuals, some with 3D printers in their own homes. A small army of face shield preppers and other volunteers joined forces to co-ordinate the production and distribution of almost 2,700 face visors and we are delighted to have their work also recognised through the award.”
Find your local Shed on the Scottish Men’s Sheds Association website at www.scottishmsa.org.uk/find-a-shed