Coalburn Men at Work
A valuable resource is now available in the local Coalburn area as Coalburn Men's Shed opens.
It’s off your mark, get set, go.. for Coalburn Men’s Shed. After much planning and hard work, and with the support of a £12,504 grant from the Coalburn, Douglas and Glespin Community (CDG) Fund, this new valuable resource is now available to the local Coalburn area.
Men’s Shed actively targets loneliness and isolation in older men by providing an active social space where men can meet each week. Men’s Sheds across Scotland have been identified as a great way of enabling older men to lead healthier, happier and more connected lives utilising their existing DIY, woodwork and gardening skills and often learning new skills too.
An open day in January provided an opportunity for the local people of Coalburn to come along and visit the new Men’s Shed project.
The Coalburn Men’s Shed offers opportunities to share a wide range of interests and skills in the recently opened workshop on the site of the Bowling Club. The Men’s Shed group has been working in partnership with the Bowling Club and Coalburn Miners Welfare Charitable Society, and together, they are spreading the word locally about this fantastic new resource within the village.
What was once an unused space at the Bowling Club has been transformed and is now a lovely flat outdoor space housing a portacabin Men’s Shed with an additional storage unit on site. Professionals completed the groundwork and the installation of the portacabin and storage shed. The time and commitment of local volunteers have been the key to delivering this project, with committee members working together with the Development Worker to secure funding to deliver the Men’s Shed and to purchase the equipment to resource it fully. The committee has also completed the internal fittings themselves.
A member of Coalburn Men's Shed told us, “Men’s Shed provides more than a workshop; it’s a place to go, find like-minded people, whether that is sitting and chatting with other members, watching the work being done, making a cuppa or using the tools and equipment. The Men’s shed provides both a building and mending service, fixing or replacing things for the village and social space”.
Why not visit the Men’s Shed in Coalburn? The opening times are Mon/Wed/Fri 10 am until 3 pm if you would like to pop in and meet the group.