Celebrating a Shed Full of Talent
Words by Patricia Laws
To boldly go where no woman had gone before…filming the Men’s Shed in Clydebank for Clydesider TV.
My mission, as part of Clydesider’s Heritage Project was to interview two of the founder members, Adam Mirren and Neil Etherington, whom I immediately addressed as the “elder statesmen” of the Shed. They seem to enjoy this accolade.
Men’s Shed Clydebank will mark 10 years at their Dalmuir Shed with an Open Day on Wednesday, 5th August.
It will include guided tours of the workshop, tea and a blether with “the boys,” a sale of the Shedders’ handcrafted goods…and an exhibition: ‘Men’s Shed Clydebank: Then and Now.’
Adam and Neil were here to tell me about the early days setting up the Shed, together with the first chairman, George Drain, and Colin Smith, West Dunbartonshire Council’s Communities Officer creditedas being “the person” who helped make the Men’s Shed a reality.
Some readers might be wondering what the Men’s Shed is. Some may not know we have one in Clydebank.
The Men’s Shed movement started in 1993, in Goolwa, South Australia after Nurse Maxine Chaseling noticed a big deterioration in her Dad following his retirement and the loss of his wife.
Maxine identified a lack of activities for men and observed her Dad at his happiest pottering about in his Shed…the rest is history.
From its humble birth, it has become a global phenomenon with over 3,000 Sheds worldwide spanning 12 countries. In the UK alone there are approximately 1,300, with over 200 in Scotland.
Professor Barry Golding, from Federation University in Australia, called Men’s Sheds: “Australia’s gift to the world” - a gift Colin Smith heard about back in 2014.
He thought the concept would work well in Clydebank because of the town’s high-quality talent, many of whom had worked in the shipyards or in Singers.
He recruited George Drain, a man with a background in social work who had set up many community groups - he seemed the ideal choice for first Chairman.
George told me: “Men’s Sheds are for the men and run by the men. They are great for your self- esteem. You get to talk with like-minded folks. If you don’t know what to do, you just ask…
“They give men the opportunity to get up, get out and get on with it when they might have lost their way a bit..”
Coincidentally, on 21st Feb 2014, just as Colin and George were mulling over the Shed idea, Professor Golding, now a world expert on Men’s Shed, came to Strathclyde University to launch his book, ‘Men Learning through Life’ which concluded: “the most effective learning for men of all ages is infomal, community-based, building on what they know and can do.”
This seminar was a pivotal moment for Men’s Shed, Clydebank. Colin and George met other Scottish Shedders who provided first-hand knowledge of setting up a Men’s Shed. This was uncharted territory for West Dunbartonshire, although Colin believed George could make things happen…
“George had set up groups before, and Adam and Neil came along with a whole bunch of skills and knowledge to drive the thing forward and not stop - they were committed and determined…”
Colin told me the men were a glowing example of what activism is: “If you see something is wrong, you challenge it and if you see something broken, you fix it. If something is missing, and is needed, you set it up. You make a change in your community.”
Colin and his team certainly did.
“The whole process lasted about two years, but they never gave up, despite several failed applications for premises, lots of tangled red tape, door chapping and what seemed like a fruitless search: writing letters, making calls, seeing councillors and officials…. Finally, we got the keys in early 2016.
“The Shed was dilapidated with holes in the walls where squirrels had been living.”
George continued: “It was in a hell of a state… It had no toilet, nor heating…”
The day they finally got the keys, Colin was on holiday but he and his daughters brought old calor gas heaters from his late mum’s house.
Many donations appeared: Filing cabinets, desks and chairs, microwave, cooker, sofas; some from the members themselves…
Adam explained: “Unfortunately, men our age pass away and their widows don’t know what to do with their tools, so they donate them to the Shed. Things just appeared…”
He played down the difficulties of transforming this empty shell into the purposeful thriving hub of today with drills drilling, hammers hammering, peals of laughter...
“I love problem-solving,” said Adam, “whenever there was an obstacle it made me want to keep going and rise to the challenge.”
You can feel Adam’s energy and can-do attitude.
Neil’s forte is admin. He has a folder full of the social history of Men’s Shed, Clydebank. He is a man for whom precision and making sure a job is done to the highest degree, is his very byword:
“My favourite thing is administration…Communication is crucial for Men’s Shed…in those early days we designed and distributed leaflets and flyers and stuck posters up all over.”
I looked from Adam to Neil and realised how transformational the Men’s Shed was for them, and indeed for the other Shedders.
Both complete strangers when they met for the Shed’s preliminary planning meetings in 2014, they now seem like friends who finish each other’s sentences, friends united in belief in each other and in the proven benefits of Men’s Shed: the camaraderie, problem-solving, the banter, the health benefits.
Neither want any credit for setting up the Shed: they are too humble to boast and too polite to moan about the reality of trying to get the Shed off the ground.
Colin Smith praised the Clydebank Shedders: “Every nail, every screw was put in by a member of the Shed for the benefit of their members. Everything was achieved by the sweat of their brow. They even scrambled under the floorboards…
And Adam concluded, as though he had nothing to do with it: “The founding of Men’s Shed has been a wonderful thing for Clydebank and the surrounding areas. We have helped schools and countless other groups.
“We have around 200 members on the books, which has grown from about seven members in the Hub back in 2014.”
Come and join the Shedders’10th anniversary celebrations on August 5 12 – 4pm.