Leighton Buzzard Men’s Shed off to a flying start

The next meeting of the Leighton Buzzard & District Men’s Shed will be held at 10:00am on Thursday 5 December at the Leighton Rose Care Home, Hockliffe Road, Leighton Buzzard, LU7 9NX. Anyone interested in finding out more about the Shed is most welcome and encouraged to attend.

Sparked by a Leighton-Linslade Town Council initiative, a group of local men are now spearheading the drive to develop a Men’s Shed for the area. Men’s Sheds are spaces where local residents, male or female, and particularly the retired, unemployed or those with health issues, can come together to socialise, share and learn skills, and work on a variety of personal and community-based projects. There are currently approximately 1,100 Men’s Sheds in the UK and the benefits they deliver in terms of wellbeing, mental good health and a positive impact on local communities are widely recognised and acknowledged.

“The ground that’s been covered since our formation just two months ago is quite incredible,” comments Ian Bickers, Acting Shed Chairman. “From a standing start, we have developed a written constitution and a business plan for growth. These have helped us secure a start-up grant from the Town Council and enabled us to submit an application to the Charity Commission to become a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, which we hope will open the door to additional support.

“We have also been accepted as a member of the UK Men’s Shed Association. It has been the local UKMSA Ambassador, Martin Young, who has given a tremendous amount of help to the Town Council and latterly us to get started. Donations of tools, for which we are immensely grateful, have been coming in, and we are now urgently engaged in the process of locating a suitable home for the Shed – and if anybody reading this knows of suitable premises that may be available, we would be delighted to hear from you.

“Until a permanent home for the Shed is found, the Leighton Rose Care Home in Hockliffe Road has kindly offered the use of its large meeting room for the Shed to meet on a regular basis, and our thanks go out to them. Our meetings are held on the first Thursday of every month and are open to all. To date, these have been well supported and we would warmly invite anybody interested in becoming a member of the Shed to come along to find out more.”

The next meeting of the Leighton Buzzard & District Men’s Shed will be held at 10:00am on Thursday 5 December at the Leighton Rose Care Home, Hockliffe Road, Leighton Buzzard, LU7 9NX. Anyone interested in finding out more about the Shed is most welcome and encouraged to attend.

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Please contact us for further information: [email protected]