Colin Philpott visited Ripon's Men's Shed to find out how five Bishop Monkton men are helping with a vital community project.

Two things I discovered straight away about the Ripon's Men Shed - it is not in a shed and it's not just about men! More of that later. 

The important thing from a Bishop Monkton perspective is that five men from our village, Tony Johnson, Peter Hoyle, Richard Du Pre, Keith Pettitt and Mat Morrell are heavily involved as leading lights in the charity which is helping to transform lives in and around Ripon.

Before I visited, my perception of Men's Sheds was probably the one many people share - older, lonely men meeting up to make things, generally out of wood. That is absolutely part of the reality but I now realise there is a great deal more to the idea than that and there is a more diverse group of people involved.

The story begins in 1993, in Australia and with a woman! The first one was set up by a woman called Maxine Chaseling in South Australia. Men's Sheds now exist in twelve different countries. The first shed in the UK opened in 2009 and there are now well over a thousand with a total membership of over 30,000 people. 

The idea of establishing a Men's Shed in Ripon was first mooted just before the pandemic and came to fruition in 2021, opening in premises behind the New Life Church on Water Skellgate near the city centre. The two-storey premises are in what previously was a church hall and above it what had been a motor mechanics.

Tony Johnson and Peter Hoyle from Bishop Monkton were involved from early on in the project and both are still heavily involved. The day I visited, Peter was busy making a cheeseboard from wood given him by a friend in Northumberland. He told me:- "When I got involved at the beginning, I didn't plan to stay involved but I've just kept coming along and I love it. It's a very friendly environment."

Tony is now a Trustee of the charity and is involved in the Shed's future development plans. During the pandemic, once people could meet inside again in limited numbers, Tony and Peter Hoyle, together with four others helped convert the building before its opening in 2021. 

Tony said:- "I saw an advert about it and got involved, thinking I had some skills that I could offer in project management for the original build-out of the workshop. Over the last three years, I have seen what a difference it can make to people's lives. We get people who are lonely, people on their own and people living with big challenges who come here and I just want the place to grow and do even more in the future."

Three other Bishop Monktoners are also actively involved - Keith Pettitt as Charity Secretary and Mat Morrell who supplies and maintains the Shed's IT systems as well as Richard Du Pre was of the first members through the door and has been a regular at the Shed for the last three years.

Also, Gerald Shervington's company, Atlas Washrooms, refurbished the toilet facilities at the Shed.

The Ripon Shed now has over forty members who each pay a £12 joining fee and then a £15 a month subscription. The Shed opens three mornings a week - Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. 

One other thing that really struck me is that there isn't much of a distinction between the people running it and those attending - they are all just members, and they are all volunteers.

That includes the Shed Manager and also Trustee, Barry Sutton, who moved to Ripon in 2021 from Scotland where he had been involved with another Men's Shed. He is an example of what is quite common at the Shed - people who are new to the area being drawn to it as a way of making new friends. Barry told me : "I'm supposed to have a couple of days off each week but it doesn't often happen! It's like a full-time job but I'm not complaining. I get a great deal of satisfaction from it, seeing people develop and gain confidence."

So what's the evidence about the value of Men's Sheds? Do they improve mental health given that men, it is said, are notoriously unwilling to discuss their feelings?

The central idea is perhaps best summed up in a phrase often quoted by Shed advocates:- 'If you put twelve men in a room and ask them to talk about their feelings, six will leave the room and the other six will look for a corner to hide.. But if you ask them to fix the broken lawnmower in the corner, they'll start chatting about their children, grandchildren, their ailments and what is bothering them. They might even fix the lawnmower as well!" 

Evidence from the UK Men's Sheds Association indicates the following -

- 96% of Shedders (that's what they are called!) who identified as lonely before joining feel less lonely since joining.

- 89% reduction in depression and 75% drop in anxiety amongst people joining a Shed.

- 97% of people joining a Shed make new friendships.

Woodwork is often the starting activity which can help achieve mental health outcomes but at the Ripon Shed, other skills are being practised and shared. Bob Cooper, who moved to Ripon two years ago, is an artist and painter and he is starting to offer art classes to other Shedders. Another member is Rick Hodgson, a qualified chef who once worked with Marco Pierre White and who used to run a boutique B&B in Knaresborough. He first came across the Men's Shed when he was given a lathe for Christmas and wanted to find out how to use it! As well as doing that, he is now sharing his culinary skills with other Shedders. On the day I visited, he was masterminding the following day's Shed Christmas Dinner.

The Ripon Shed is not standing still. They have recently raised almost £40,000 through fundraising and grants to enable them to buy their premises (currently they are leased) and also to acquire the now-empty New Life Church building itself. This will massively increase the floor space available to the Shed and give them a much bigger workshop, a new social area, an arts and crafts area, a shop selling their products and an IT/computer area. More fundraising, probably of the order of at least £20,000, will be needed to fit out the extra space. The ambition is to have it finished by early 2026 and to be able to support even more people in Ripon with the diverse activities and the larger space.

One final point. The Chair of the Trustees of the Ripon Men's Shed is a woman and there are three women members! As Tony put it:- “We are not in the business of excluding anyone.”

Find out more about the Ripon Men's Shed by visiting its Facebook page. 

If you're interested in helping with their fundraising or in supporting the Shed in any way, contact Keith Pettitt [email protected]