A place to pursue practical interests at leisure, to practice skills and enjoy making and mending. At the Aldridge Shed you can usually get involved in woodworking, repairing and restoring, model boat building, pen making etc. Whatever the activity, the essence is not just in the making, but the social connections and relationships between its members.
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0Who / What are we
Improving wellbeing, reducing loneliness and combatting social isolation. Aldridge Shed is part of the Men’s Sheds movement - women also welcome. Connection, conversation and creation – that’s what its all about.
This Crowdfunder is to help us buy a new piece of equipment that will help the ‘Shed’ thrive
Background
The ‘Sheds’ concept started around 1999 in Australia to help combat men’s loneliness. It then spread to the UK, Canada, Europe and the USA. There are now over 2000 Sheds worldwide
Women traditionally go out for coffee or meet up on a weekly group basis to chat and put the world to rights, whereas men sometimes lead a more solitary existence. The ‘Shed’ helps meet that need for social interaction by providing a place to pursue practical interests at leisure, to practice skills and enjoy making and mending. They’re about social connections and friendship building, sharing skills and knowledge and of course a lot of laughter
Sheds have a profound impact on shedders, promoting mental well-being through social connections and shared activities. Shedders experience increased self-esteem, purpose, and emotional resilience. Engaging in creative projects fosters skill development, and the supportive community contributes to a positive sense of identity and belonging, enhancing overall life satisfaction.
So that’s the reason Aldridge Shed exists but it has become much more. Read on to see how you can help by supporting our crowdfunding
What we want to do and why we need your support
Whilst Aldridge Shed is well set up with work benches and most woodworking equipment, these machines need constant maintenance and upgrading to provide a good experience to Shedders and meet all health and safety requirements. Together with rent, utilities and consumables, this all costs money. We try to keep costs down for Shedders to provide access for all.
We have a small hobby laser engraver at the Shed, which is much used, but is wearing out and needs an upgrade. We would like to purchase a better professional machine as a replacement. To do this and buy a machine that most meets our needs, we will have to spend around £3,000. Capital of this magnitude is hard to come by and so we are asking for assistance. The new laser engraver will allow a much expanded opportunity to engrave images and wording on wood, metal, leather and even glass bottles. It will also cut as well as engrave. It will help Shedders create items that will be of high quality and much valued.
Many items created are sold at Shed open days, thus also helping Shed finances.
Anything you can pledge will be of enormous assistance