TAVISTOCK Men in Sheds are aiming to help their community by doing odd jobs around the town like mending gates and fences, helping their local church — and maybe saving a life or two along the way.

The group is one of hundreds across the UK who help men — and sometimes women — with mental health problems like depression, or problems associated with loneliness or isolation.

The UK branch of the worldwide organisation was set up in 2013 and is thought to have roughly 13,000 members, with Tavistock one of its most recent branches. The Tavistock group set up in a derelict shed behind Kings in Pixon Lane in January, but the project fell foul of the Covid-19 lockdown social distancing regulations a few months later and although they have been gradually eased, members are just getting it up and running again. The seven core members who set up the new group have been given £1,000 towards revamping their ‘new’ home from Devon County councillor Debo Sellis, who is allowed a budget for worthy causes.

Cllr Sellis, also a West Devon Borough councillor, said she chose the group because it had long been recognised that men need to talk about their problems, but were not particularly good at it.

She said: ‘The suicide rate among men is horribly high and I have lost friends, young lads, who killed themselves. That, of course, is the extreme end of the scale, but people need buddies and someone they can talk to.’

Typically, groups like Tavistock can spend their time on building projects in their shed, which can range from bird boxes up to and including repairing cars in some branches. Spokesman Nick Hunt, however, made it clear that joining the group and having to make something was not what they are all about.

He said: ‘We are looking to get more members. We have been going for almost a year, but because of lockdown, we couldn’t do anything for about six months and we are just getting going again.

‘At the moment, we are opening from 11am to 1pm every Monday and we also get together once a month for a meeting. We don’t necessarily need it, but we are doing it for people who are lonely, have got mental health problems like depression and they need to get out. They don’t need to make something. If they want to come for a cup of coffee and a chat, we would be happy to see them.’