Special award for Long Sutton Men's Shed

A Long Sutton hub which provides mental health support while bringing the community together has scooped a special award for its work.

The Long Sutton Men’s Shed was given a huge nod at the Shed of the Year Awards at ShedFest.

Although they didn’t take home the top award, Long Sutton were given a special commendation at the national conference for the 600-plus Men’s Sheds in the United Kingdom, held at the Worcester University Arena.

Jack Tyrrell, one of the founders of the Long Sutton Men’s Shed, which is based at the Silverwood Nursery Centre, is over the moon.

He said: “I am very pleased with it and the fact that we were even put in for it in the first place is great.

“We asked what special commendation meant and basically it’s second place. The shed that did win had a lot more people in their’s - including women - but we are sticking with just men.

“This has been five years in the making and we’ve done well to get a shed as big as we have with so many different areas.

“We’ve got so much going on in there.”

John Latchford, chairman of UK Men’s Sheds Association, also congratulated the Long Sutton branch on it’s quality and wished members his best for the year ahead.

There are currently nearly 90 members of the Men’s Shed who visit every week when it is open on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

At the shed, the men can get involved in activities or have a chat over a cuppa in a welcoming and friendly safe haven.

The new Quiet Room at the shed is also nearing completion and will shortly be available for members to spend some quiet time and to have confidential conversations with trained volunteers, if required.

In addition, the shed is nearing completion of the 10-week trial of the new Youth Shed, which is training eight school children aged 11-15 in the skills required for brick laying, carpentry and basic electrical engineering.