Shropshire charity builds space to tackle male loneliness thanks to donations
Generous community donations have enabled a south Shropshire charity to build their own space to tackle loneliness and isolation in men.
The Cleobury Mortimer Men's Shed have been inundated with donations and offers of help from the local community and they are now well underway with constructing their own shed to house meetings and activities.
From architects to farmers and builders to doctors, the charity have received support in all forms from the people of Cleobury Mortimer and beyond.
Peter Blackburn, Chairman of the town's Men's Shed, said the support has been fantastic.
He said: "Loneliness and isolation is an increasing problem in the community, especially in older men.
"Men can often feel as though they have lost their purpose and feel socially excluded. They are less likely to talk about issues because of their pride. However, men do tend to talk more when they are shoulder to shoulder working on something and that's what is so great about the men's shed movement."
Katja Jones from Cleobury Compassionate Communities had a lot of people come to her worried about male relatives dealing with loneliness or isolation, and that is when she found the Shropshire Men's Shed movement.
The Cleobury Mortimer branch had their first meeting in October 2017, when Peter volunteered to be chairman.
Since then, they have had invaluable support from the community - Peter said everywhere they've turned they've been faced with generosity.
He said: "The Robinsons from Mawley Town Farm have provided us with land to build our shed on. We had a lease drawn up by a local solicitor for no charge, and Mr Robinson agreed that they would charge us £1 a year for the service.
"My father, in his 80s, is a retired architect and he drew up all the plans for us.
"A local construction company, Hilton Smith Foundations, have done all the foundations for nothing which is such a lot of work, probably around £4,000 worth of work.
"We've gotten massive support from the medical centre in Cleobury Mortimer. Doctors have actually been recommending our society to some men who come in to chat to them about issues. They are more inclined to make contact with us if a doctor advised it and then they will feel more comfortable coming along."
The charity has also had help and donations from David Chance, a local builder, Andy Wakeman, an electrician, Dan Morgan, a plumber, and from Huws Gray Supplies Ludlow.
They hope to have the building up and watertight before the end of October.
