SMSA interviews Bruce Newlands—an award-winning architect and Chair of the Scottish ‘Men’s Shed of the Year’ 2020, The Inverclyde Shed—to hear all about his personal journey.
Bruce said: “When I lived in Glasgow, I was heavily involved in the creative technologies charity, MAKLab (Scotland’s first open access digital fabrication studio which aims to empower people and build confidence). I had heard a lot about Men’s Sheds and when I moved to Inverclyde in 2014, I did some research and found that—although there were Sheds in Dunoon, Helensburgh and Barrhead—there was not one for Inverclyde.
“I put out the feelers and made contact with George Banks and he was in the process of setting up a Shed in Inverclyde after leaving the Dunoon Shed. I offered to get involved and make use of my skills and background from MAKLab and as an architect with my own business, Kraft Architecture Ltd, where I work on a range of projects with various community groups and housing associations.
“I wanted somewhere to go to not only utilise my skillset—but also to support my own health and wellbeing. Making things and helping others is my own therapy and I felt that a local Shed was a good fit for me.
“One year on, I found myself accepting the Chairman’s position at the first AGM! We agreed a strategy (medium to long term) to apply for funding to secure premises and offer the activities in demand in the area. There really was no need to reinvent the wheel, so I arranged to take eight of our members on peer learning visits to other Sheds to get a good flavour of their set up and activities.
“What we saw at these Sheds was truly admirable—the powerful creators, the partnership working and the camaraderie! This proved to be invaluable to learn from others and what would (and would not) work in Inverclyde and understand the wide range of interests that Sheds cater for.
“We took on our first 700sqft Shed at Captain Street in Greenock in early 2019 and then expanded to include a second 700sqft workshop space by mid-2019.
“At one point, we found ourselves almost at the brink of closure—due to funding pressures—and could not afford to pay our rent. An anonymous donation came in that helped us pay next month’s rent and then another miracle happened—our Shed successfully secured funding from the National Community Lottery Fund (Improving Lives) in March 2019 where we secured £77,000 over five years (£10,000 a year to cover the rent and £17,000 for equipment).
“This was a major turning point for us. This level of funding took away so much of the pressure well known to Sheds and allowed us to then concentrate on growing our membership; developing our Shed activities and also focus on attaining a Community Asset Transfer (CAT) for a new larger Shed (a 4,000sqft industrial unit in Greenock).
“In August 2019, we took over the management (and £1 annual lease) of an unused community garden space in Gourock from Inverclyde Council. The aim of this was to create a space for our members to get involved with gardening, physical work and reap the benefits to their health and wellbeing from being outdoors.
“The garden has been a great success. It is such a reflective space but it is also providing so much to our local community. The Shed has been donating the healthy seasonal produce to elderly and vulnerable groups in our community which has been so rewarding and just recently we have started providing fruit and vegetables to a local nursery.
“I am personally fortunate enough to live close enough to the Shore Street garden. Throughout lockdown, I threw myself into planting and growing to find a sense of calm and peacefulness. I very much welcomed this change of pace to my life delivered by our Shed.
“In March 2020, we were successful with our CAT request for a 4,000sqft industrial unit in Greenock and renovation is set to begin in May 2021 (subject to success with the Scottish Government Regeneration Capital Grant Fund). This 25-year, £1 per annum, lease—the first with Inverclyde Council—could secure our Shed for the next generation of Shedders.
“I am immensely proud of how the Shed has grown and what it has achieved in such a short space of time. Every single member gets a say/vote on what we do and this approach has enabled us to attract a lot of interest from the people of Inverclyde.
“Personally, the Shore Street Community Garden is one of my proudest achievements. It became even more popular in lockdown and a place where members of the community and our Shedders could come for their daily exercise; have some peace and quiet and time to reflect; but it has also became a ‘stage’ for locals to find out more about the Shed and what we do.”
With so much happening at The Inverclyde Shed—including the recent launch of a smaller satellite Shed focusing on digital fabrication/ distance working to try and help address Covid-19 restrictions on gatherings —what does the future hold for Bruce and the Shed?
Bruce said: “What has been achieved to date has been far from easy. We have had our struggles but have worked together as a team and are delighted to see this hard work pay off with the widening of our demographic to attract more men along to the Shed.
“We didn’t just fall into the stereotype of our heritage to only offer boat building to our members (although we believe that it is still very important to learn these traditional skills) but we have diversified to attract members with a variety of interests— including gardening and electronics— offering men a range of options to get involved.
“That said, I feel it is time for a wee change for me now. I have owned my own company for almost 20 years and strongly believe in maintaining a good work-life balance.
“I have made the decision to concentrate more on myself and my family (my wife Erika and my one-year old daughter, Ruby). My focus at the Shed will mostly be through the community garden, the new larger Shed and helping with the funding applications but I also want to engross myself in enjoying Shed life to the full!
“I see the physical and mental health benefits of Sheds and for me it is about making things, the camaraderie, the banter and seeing other guys achieving things and the pride that they feel. I believe that Sheds are places that can accommodate many different perspectives and experiences and we should celebrate this.
“I work from home and, for me, our community garden has been the place that I can go to get some head space without any interruptions. I am diabetic and have lost so much weight working in the garden and have never felt better.
“I have learnt so much about gardening and the Shed has secured funds for me to undertake some training with the Royal Horticultural Society Scotland to learn even more and maximise the potential of the community garden.
“With the Shed now not having the pressure of rent to pay, there is certainly plenty to keep us busy. There are funded plans to triple the size of the community garden with work having already started to form a secure orchard space that will produce a harvest for our local community but also a space of reflection for members.”
“Winning the title of SMSA’s ‘Scottish Men’s Shed of the Year’ 2020 has been the icing on the cake for us and sets the tone for our ambitious plans for our Shed going forward.” For more information on The Inverclyde Shed, please visit www.inverclydeshed.co.uk or follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn).
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