Men’s Shed is not unlike a traditional Shed in its nature – a place full of tools and projects – but on a much larger scale and with a key difference: you’re never alone at a Men’s Shed.
It’s been well publicised that men are at greater risk of loneliness or unwanted isolation than women. In recent times this has been further exacerbated by the Covid 19 pandemic which saw the country being put into Lockdown twice in less then 18 months, with extended and damaging periods of personal isolation.
At a local level (as identified by Maldon & District CVS) men simply aren’t as well engaged when it comes to non sporting clubs, groups or other social community initiatives when compared to women.
Then couple this knowledge with the statistic that 1 in 5 men die before the age of 65 and it’s clear why the Men’s Shed movement and the Essex Shed Network are focused on improving the wellbeing of Men.*
The Essex Shed Network is a partnership between Maldon & District CVS and CVS Uttlesford and funded by National Lottery’s Community Fund. Established in 2016 our aim is to provide support to organisations or private individuals within Essex wishing to set up a Men’s Shed, whilst also providing help to existing Sheds to ensure their sustainability.
We do this by sharing our knowledge and expertise, accumulated through first hand experience of establishing, setting up and hosting some of the first Men’s Sheds in Essex (such as Maldon and Cressing Temple Sheds). We provide help with funding applications, governance, health and safety, drawing up codes of conduct and more. We arrange training as well as regular events which bring Shedders from across the county together, to share their knowledge and experiences with each other and ultimately strengthen the Network for all.
*Community Sheds which welcome women are available in the network, take a look at our map to find them.
