We’re very excited to be welcoming our newest member to the team – Caroline Ellis. Ahead of her arrival, Caroline has shared a little bit about herself, what drew her to applying for the role of UK Men’s Sheds Association’s CEO, and what the Shed movement has already got her thinking about.
I applied for the role of CEO at UK Men’s Sheds Association (UKMSA) because I knew that for Shedding to thrive in the UK, it needs a team of people behind the scenes doing all it can to help make that happen. For me, leading UKMSA isn’t about leading an organisation, it’s about serving a movement, and in order to do that well, I needed to start meeting you – the Shedders, hearing about what you need and what UKMSA can do to help.
I’m very much looking forward to starting as UKMSA’s CEO in May 2025. Before formally starting in post, I’ve had the chance to start getting to know some of the wonderful people I’ll be working alongside, some of the inspiring people who brought the Men’s Shed movement to the UK, and some of the individuals who have nurtured it ever since.
At Camden Town Shed, I spoke to UKMSA’s founder Mike Jenn; UKMSA’s first member of staff, founder of Frome Shed and committed Ambassador Patrick Abrahams; and our most recently appointed member of staff Ian Francis, Shed Development Officer for Greater London. I have been made very welcome at Amersham Men’s Shed, where I gained from the vast experience of John Latchford – another long-standing Ambassador and UKMSA Trustee. Finally, I received a warm welcome from Phil Howell, Treasurer at The RWB Shed, alongside his fellow committee members at the re-opening of The RWB Shed at their new premises.
Thank you to everyone I’ve met over the last 3 months. It seems only right to base this first article on some of the many conversations I have had, to share what I’ve heard and learnt so far, all of which will inform how I work with the team at UKMSA from my first day on 6th May.
Caroline with RWB Shedders Geoff Speake, Steve Hares, Phil Howell and John Loran.
Ian Francis, UKMSA Greater London Shed Development Officer, UKMSA Ambassador Patrick Abrahams and UKMSA Lifetime President Mike Jenn
I’ve heard from many people that being part of the Shedding movement is about being involved in something positive amid an increasingly divided world. People feel that Shedding is not simply good for their own health, it helps them feel like they are able to make a useful contribution to others in their local community. For UKMSA, whilst we want to build our influence at the national level and were excited when the Secretary of State for Health, Wes Streeting, talked about Men’s Sheds in the announcement about a Men’s Health Strategy for the UK, we must never lose sight of what motivates people to set up, join and stay involved in their local Shed. What I keep hearing is that Shedding might be good for your health, but that’s not necessarily what keeps you turning up, week after week.
‘I’ve made a lot of new friends… from different walks of life who I probably would never have met; you get to know what the rest of the world’s about.’
‘…the connection to the wider community is critical.’
Everyone I’ve spoken to confirms that Shedding, something that is so positive for individuals and communities, should be available to more people across the UK, including to different groups of men. Many people talked passionately about how Sheds provide a unique space for men to get together and how Shedding can make all the difference to their sense of purpose, health and wellbeing. At UKMSA, we must keep finding ways to help make that happen – in lots of different ways – for the men who need it.
Many also talked about how important it is that the movement is welcoming and inclusive; there’s no point creating a Shed people feel excluded from. This can feel confusing from the outside when the Shed movement focuses on men’s health and wellbeing. But what I’ve realised over the last few months is that the independence and self-determination of Sheds allows for diversity across the movement; there are men-only Sheds, mixed Sheds and women-only Sheds, each focussing on specific shared creative interests. If someone out there wants to build a Shed for young people in their area, they should go for it, and the team at UKMSA should be there to support where helpful.
‘I’ve always had women here right from the first… but I’ve always also had a men-only day’
‘Some people come because they want social contact. Some people come along because they want to do wood or clay.’
‘I’d like to see 50% of Sheds running an evening session for young people…if we don’t have youngsters coming into the movement, I think we’ve got a problem.’
Of course, having an idea and ambition to build something doesn’t make it easy. Many Shedders talked about the myriad of challenges they face, both setting up, and sustaining, a flourishing Shed. Finding premises, funding and people can all create obstacles. People who set up Sheds must be creative and innovative to make this work. I heard about many Sheds being fragile and vulnerable though:
‘Succession is an issue…what happens is half a dozen people get together to start a Shed, three or four of them are real ‘do-ers’… then you double your membership, you’ve still got three ‘do-ers’ and then you triple your membership and… this is where the risk of burnout happens all the time’
‘I frequently get people saying ‘well, you can’t possibly use shipping containers for Sheds because of the condensation’. I don’t say, ‘yes, you can’. I just say, ‘well I’ll give you a list of six or seven Sheds who have done it, please contact them.’
‘There’s more than one solution… case studies is quite a good way of doing it because you say, ‘well here’s four or five options on how you can manage your finances, and by the way here’s a bunch of case studies’.’
‘Every Shed should be sustainable and that means that they’ve figured out what it is that threatens them or could threaten them… and they’ve got a plan or an idea about what they would do’
It’s clear lots of people are navigating the same obstacles and coming up with some brilliant solutions. I want UKMSA to help. I want us to come up with solutions as well, and make sure you can connect with each other, quickly. If you’re facing a tricky situation, someone is likely to have trodden that path already and will have ideas and practical things to share. UKMSA does make these connections, and we can do more of it.
I’ve heard a great deal about the ‘DNA’ of Sheds and what makes Shedding unique. That includes the self-determination and independence of Sheds, the learning environment that Shedders create and maintain and how sustainability, restoring, upcycling and making are at the heart of the Shedding movement. Sheds are somewhere people can drop their shoulders as well as working shoulder to shoulder.
‘The workshop was the initial draw… it’s just what I’ve wanted all my life, you know, without having to buy all this stuff… and I can pass on lots of things that I’ve been taught.’
‘If it’s a group of guys that have actually formed the thing to make it happen, they own it and they will fight for it and they will make their presence known, and that is a very, very important function… So the bottom up is really important’
‘Being productive is an important thing. Having something to show for what you do’
‘One of the things that everybody says when they walk in there is it just feels like walking into somebody’s home really. It’s like a very warm, friendly place.’
‘One of the things I think is in the DNA of every bottom-up Shed is ‘give it a try’. Try it.’
To me, one of the most inspiring things I’ve had confirmed by Shedders, is that UKMSA is here to enable and support the Shed movement; Shedders lead the Shed movement, not UKMSA. To effectively support the Shed movement in the UK, we (like individual Sheds) need to be creative and self-sustaining as an organisation. Everything UKMSA does should focus on enabling Shed vitality and sustainability, increasing the reach and impact of Sheds, amplifying the voice of Shedders, Sheds and the wider movement. I look forward to working alongside the staff and volunteer team at UKMSA, along with Shed Leaders, Ambassadors and Shedders across the UK, to make that happen. I very much hope to meet more of you at ShedFest 2025 or at a Shed near you over the next few months and years!