A NATIONAL initiative to benefit men’s health and well-being is spreading its wings to Tavistock.

Men in Sheds are community spaces for people to connect, converse and create — and help reduce loneliness and isolation.

The initiative has been taken on for Tavistock after the success of the scheme in Okehampton and further afield.

It has been headed up by ROC (Redeeming Our Communities), a national charity which aims to bring about partnerships between businesses, public, voluntary and faith sectors to improve life in the town.

ROC was established in Tavistock last year after it was found that there were four areas in Devon and Cornwall to address: Concerns for youth and digital safety, loneliness and isolation, mental health and addictions, and better communications and mapping.

David Palmer, ROC co-ordinator, said: ‘There has been general interest in Men in Sheds for some time and seeing it work in Okehampton has given us the encouragement to do a similar project in Tavistock. This project is to encourage men to get together round a workshop “shed” to make things for the community and socialise. We have a suitable shed in mind and available.’

While there are now more than 500 sheds across Britain, according to the UK Men’s Sheds Association, the support body for Men’s Sheds across the UK, there are over 130 sheds in development and an estimated 12,576 men benefiting directly.

Okehampton started its shed in 2015 at Okehampton Community Garden off Fatherford Lane.

These ‘shedders’ meet three times a week in the building that they made themselves, drawing on the many skills of members, from electrical know-how to carpentry to building.

The Okehampton Men in Sheds was born as an idea and built with a modest budget with funds from West Devon Borough Council, Okehampton United Charity, Okehampton Town Council, Okehampton Hamlets Parish Council and others.

Okehampton’s answer to a communal ‘man cave’, complete with veranda, opened in the summer of 2017 with the intention of providing a space for retired and semi-retired men to get out of the house and learn new skills from each other in a sociable and relaxed environment.

Men in Sheds aims to alleviate loneliness and even depression in retired and semi-retired men. Sheds typically attract older men, but many have younger members and women too. Whatever the activity, the essence of a shed is not a building, but the connections and relationships between its members.

David added: ‘Tavistock is a place with a lot of community involvement which benefits both the community and the volunteers themselves. Also the Men in Sheds initiative gives opportunity for a range of skills to be used for the benefit of the community.

‘We are holding a meeting to help set one up here.

‘It will initially need a group of six to eight people to get it started. If you are interested, the meeting is on Tuesday, November 19 at 2.30pm at The Printworks (formerly Kingdon House).’