Sheds are for Wellbeing

We start with the NHS!

Two surprising things concerning Sheds often become apparent and as Shedders we have an opportunity/responsibility to play our part in remedying matters.

Here they are:

1. How little some healthcare professionals know about Men’s Sheds. About their association to wellbeing and ameliorating feelings of loneliness, isolation, depression and anxiety, to name but 4 of many.

2. How little some Shedders (and therefore probably some of the general public) know about the organisation and workings of the NHS. So much has changed even in the past decade and much of it is good!

Here is a diagram for our Shed that the lived experience (as they say) of individuals might help validate and possibly extend.  

Many of us (Baby Boomers maybe) grew up knowing only two main actors in the NHS. A Doctor in a Surgery (often just a couple with access to a District Nurse, as in Meet the Midwife) and a Specialist or Consultant at a Hospital with deeper knowledge of the condition we have (or are suspected to have). General medical Practitioner and hospital specialists (the ones called Mr. as opposed to Dr. in the rankings.) all wore stethoscopes to listen to our internal rhythms and noises!

The basic distinction between the two streams still applies (very sensibly), though now designated Primary Care and Secondary Care. Still the role of the GP is to assess, endeavour to diagnose, order up tests for blood and urine to facilitate that and then to decide what next should be done at that stage – the prescription.

Often the prescription is for medication (from a pharmacy) but it might be referral to Secondary Care (and a range of services). GPs have always had patients presenting with a concern that is not visible or only partially so. The patient is likely seeking reassurance to the condition they believe they might have and often looking for a quick solution by way of a “magic pill”. Many such patients, particularly those older, welcomed the comfort of a chat with their GP. One who perhaps had known the family over the years. Rather like the bank manager of years ago and indeed the Reverend. People to trust!

However, demand has soared (people living longer and having more complex problems accompanying that) so a Medical Practice will now have many doctors, with specialist roles to support them. Hence the introduction of Social Prescriber Link Workers to shift the load from GPs. What load? The load of knowing what “services” there are in the community to support wellbeing and mental health.

The role of SPLWs is to discover and map what helpful activities there are available and to introduce those appropriate to individual patients needing some social uplift.  There is a similar role in the Secondary Care channel for patients waiting and waiting for an operation and needing some support in the community.  The SPLW staff are not employed by the GP practice, but by a separate business.  The challenge is for the two organisations to work together seamlessly in helping patients and in Norton and Billingham they do as an integrated service. 

The above may help Shedders and families understand a little about the path a patient may take. The Shed sees its role as being deliverers of a prescription for social inclusion!

However, what about the level of knowledge that healthcare professionals have of Men’s Sheds?  From Graham’s interactions with GPs (including in Whitby) and with consultants recently, the connection of Sheds to health is not always realised sufficiently. Sheds seem more thought of as hobby clubs and a time filler.

Unfortunately, GPs (but also many others in senior roles in business, education and industry) have little time to explore the community they are in (as Dr. Finlay might have done!). They are all busy with pretty inflexible agendas. Our role (a Shed) might be to inform our GPs and other practitioners of what Sheds are and what they do for us. Teaching professionals! Drip, drip, drip.

We hope to have a video produced shortly. One idea is to do a fly-on-the-wall video so viewers can capture the spirit of the Shed. The Shed that is not seen but felt.

We recently had Matt Vickers MP visit the Shed and Chris McDonald MP is due in April. Much of what we endeavour to put over is not what is practically  done with materials and machinery but rather the stories of Shedders and why they continue to attend the Shed. We are capturing stories on a separate web page and some of our supporters (like Macmillan Cancer Support) are keen to read them and share them. 

So Shedders, gossip the Shed to healthcare professionals and civic leaders. Gossip about other organisations too that you know help people. The voluntary sector can be a very effective partner with the “qualified”.  We have time to help others and the compassionate drive to achieve it. 

So, together we can.

Here is Matt Vicker’s video of his visit. He grasped the real point of the Shed very well. Chris MacDonald is also visiting during the Easter recess. Looking forward to that because mental health it is not a party political issue but one for all our representatives and for us too. I always credit our Aussie cousins who led with the concept 30 years ago but also to the pioneers in the UK through UK Men’s Sheds Association. There are 1200 Sheds of all flavours in the UK. We need more.

An Addendum to the above

The “handover” of people from one organisation to another is crucial. Some confident people can manage it for themselves but others need support and some handholding. It’s a transition process from one organisation that the person trusts (we hope!) to another that they need some time possibly to come to trust.

Let’s consider NHS Social Prescribing Link Workers (in general, not specifically Norton’s) and Norton Men’s Shed (as an example of any Shed and any voluntary/charitable/community group involved in support of people of some kind). 

Let it be firmly stated that Norton Shed is a fan of Link Workers, those we know well and those a little further afield that we may not have met face to face or worked with before. You’ll see the connection, surely, between building trust and regularity of contact. 

The previous section of this blog mentioned our history with Norton’s Link Workers – there being one in 2021 and now13 (though a number part time). The relationship with the first one was key to establishing relationships with successive Link Workers and their expansion in number over the past 3 years. When we started the Shed it was “with no home for the Shed” because of the one Link Worker’s clear voicing of the need for something stimulating for men with a down mood to lose themselves (involving more than table talk) and that same solitary Link Worker’s enthusiasm for and input to letting a bit of chaos potentially reign! 

So the relationship built between a handful of people which went on to influence the respective organisations involved. In a word, trust, but also with both parties having a non-contractual stake in the venture. Due to that positive experience the Shed readily accepted other organisations with similar need to signpost men to activities.

All good stuff. What’s the problem? The mental health demand pressure on the “system” means that no longer is it commonplace for a Link Worker to accompany a person to a first meeting with the Shed as a bridge. That was so beneficial in the past because the person then sees evidence of the “trust relationship” between agency and Shed which subconsciously makes crossing the bridge so much easier.

That process has largely been replaced by telephone/message calls agency<>Shed. That CAN often work, particularly when trust has been built that allows quick communication and quick response should an issue, a wobble, occur. We quite like it when occasionally a call comes at the end of  a face-to-face meeting between person and Link Worker. With trust already established, we sometimes speak directly to the individual to hear in their words why they need a Shed (!) and maybe learn some obvious facts like where they live, travel and access difficulties. It breaks the ice and likely opens subsequent telephone conversations or a pop-down visit to the Shed. The person is still, however, under the Link Worker.

It then becomes a joint support role (Shed and agency) focused on the person and the help they might need to initially adjust. Again, that DOES work. It is is a valued option and possibly now the main way to make workload manageable.

However, this has occasionally been streamlined  to not necessarily meet the person but to hold a telephone conversation and agree a way forward without meeting in person. The way forward may be for the Link Worker to contact the Shed straight away and ask about the possibilities of the person attending or (we think the worst option) to encourage or allow the person to make a direct call themselves. That is rare, thankfully, because our Shed (and many Sheds) have a capacity problem (related to safety) and, as importantly, a Shed needs to consider both the impact of the Shed on the new person and the impact of that person on the existing Shed!

It needs to be recognised that Sheds (at least Norton’s) are coupled to mental health wellbeing and are not simply a common interest woodworking/model railway/social natter space. Not a drop in either. We try to do is tailor the Shed experience to people. We don’t nanny but we do sensibly safeguard, including for the volunteers who are the Shedders themselves. 

It might be tempting of a Link Worker of some description to try to bounce the person on with a quick message or call to the Shed, without possibly not having met the person. It CAN work. It has worked when we know the Link Worker well because they know us and have been at the Shed several times to rub shoulders with the Shedders. They have some lived experience of the Shed! We are on the same page. The concern is when a Link Worker (type) considers that simply giving a person in their care a signpost to the Shed is appropriate it is a step too far!

With apologies for the length of this (if you are still reading) but whilst a Shed should be a rewarding and even FUN place for all, there is a very serious side to it.

A new word in our Shed vocabulary

It is normalised.

The most recent account of Shed benefit on the Story Page (The Shed and I) from a “cancer” Shedder said,

“Informal discussions happen in small groups or one to one exchanges as friendships develop. On a Thursday morning “Shedding Light into Cancer” session these are often about cancer and it helped me to “normalise” my cancer, in a non-clinical setting.  It allowed me to realise cancer affects so many people in so many ways. Talking to others put my own cancer journey into perspective and gave me comfort and strength to get on with life.”  

The Shed helped him to put in perspective his physical condition. Non-clinically. As a Shed, we don’t need to be experts in illness – physical or mental – but we do in how to create an environment that allows people to think for themselves. To normalise for themselves.

Our job as Shedders is to accept the way people are and to include them as much as they want to be included. To be sensitive to the way people are as individuals and to let them track a course that fits them at any one time. On their journey and ours.

For more stories and to get an idea for what YOU might write or speak of follow the link to The Shed and I.

What’s the difference between a Shed and a Beach Sweep?

This arrived via Elaine Marsh, one of the Whitby Shed originals (from 7 years ago). It is not an exaggeration to say that Elaine was transformed by attending the Shed, with confidence restored. So much so that she was involved in other ventures including establishing the Whitby Beach Sweep. 

Foghorn is a publication to sound out good news and it has focussed on the Beach Sweep.  Note the statement as to what the Beach Sweep does for mental health and that perhaps answers the question posed. Not so much!!

An article on Whitby district Sheds is in line for Foghorn.

An achievement is a success that makes you feel good!

Paul’s egg cups have are a popular memento for visitors to be presented with. They always stimulate conversation. We need to keep up our stock and in this video clip another 6 are in process of being printed for half a dozen boiled eggs.

North East Ladies Day 

Steve and Graham are limbering up for a 10 minute presentation of the Men’s Shed to 160 ladies at Wynyard Hall next week.  Yesterday (Monday) we had a visit from Carol, a NELD Trustee. We had a strong attendance at Monday Shed and the Shedders were not shy to open up about themselves for Carol to grasp what a Shed is really about.

NELD donated £1000 towards the recladding of the Portacabin. 

Next week we will present North East Ladies Day with a 3D printed trophy mounted on a base – all spun with the new technology! NELD is not a Champion Charity because they gave us money – it was a privilege for us to hear about how NELD started 42 years ago and what lies behind their charity. 

Below is a video of the body of the trophy being printed. 

Billingham Buccaneers supporting Norton Men’s Shed

It’s the game that you have all been waiting for…our charity fundraiser and skate with the players!

This year we are delighted to be raising money for Norton Men’s Shed, who kindly built and donated our beautiful Miss Conduct!

“Connection, conversation and creation – that’s what a Men’s Shed is all about.” ~ Men’s Sheds Association.

Norton Men’s Shed is based at Norton Sports Charity Complex, providing a meeting place where men (and a few women!) come together to carry out activities and spend time together.

It’s aim? To improve wellbeing, reduce loneliness and combat social isolation.

“The outcomes that are the most valued are those  that help restore people’s feelings about life and themselves.” (Norton Men’s Shed)

Entry is free to our HockeyHound.co.uk Cup game on Sunday 23rd March, against Bradford Bulldogs NIHL, with “cash only” donations going to Norton Men’s Shed.

The bonus of donating? Whilst you’re helping our chosen charity and their efforts to support people in the local community, you’ll also get a band that gives you entry to our skate with the players after the game!

Helping others, whilst enjoying a game and a skate with the Buccs …Why wouldn’t you be there?!

Our grateful thanks to the Buccaneers . . . .  

Meanwhile, at the Shed on Tuesday Derick was busy on TinkerCad creating a design for printing. He needed some vertical blind weights. Derick is so enjoying the mental gymnastics involved. He also works on it at home. 

North East ShedConnect

It was an event in Middlesbrough that brought around 60 Shedders from Sheds as far away as Leeds and the Tyne. 

Six from Norton Shed attended and joined in the conversations. 

Also represented was BayThorpe Shed, Staithes Shed and the evolving Iron Shed (Skinningrove)

Jim of Staithes Shed was there and today he sent this piece of news.

“It was only a set of keys” …..just wanted to share what happened today Graham …..I went through to Whitby with my other half and Grandson …I called at a key cutters in Whitby to get a set (3 off ) keys cut for a fellow Shedder at Staithes …the chap and I got talking.

I said the keys were for the Shed … he asked about Sheds … I explained …. turns out he lives on his own in Whitby and finds it sometimes lonely ..says he may reach out to the Shed as he’s writing a book on loneliness and self help… he thanked me for the information and asked me to write web site details of UK Men’s Shed and Whitby which I did … I asked how much for the 3 keys cutting … his response, no money they were free because of the information I shared …..as I say “It was only a set of keys”.

A good example of how Sheds can reach parts that other organisations cannot!

The Other Side of the Tracks

The Shed now has a neighbour over the railway line. They’ve been there a while though, gradually establishing themselves but with the recent sunshine (!) they are pushing up strong growth!

It is a Community Garden centred around a large polytunnel.

There are raised veg beds to be added outside alongside traditional allotment areas already there.

Inside, it seems to be a perfect growing environment for seeds, plants and inside crops. It’s a very calm place away from the noise and busyness of the Shed. In fact we are thinking of taking vacations there to get some peace. Just needs deckchairs!

Behind it is our old friend Helen Deehan who was a great help and advisor in Norton Men’s Shed early days and months. But also Jamie who is a familiar face with Helen at the monthly Green Market and at other places including Norton Library which hosts a Seed Exchange project.

We have a chance to help them. There are some boards for the raised beds to be painted at the garden and they have asked for help to erect a custom made tool shed for spades, forks, hoes etc.

It’s also available for us to use if any Shedders are interested. There’s watering to do and the tool shed will have collection of rain water into water butts.

We will be testing the walky-talkies we have to see if the signal reaches.

The project has a focus on food sustainability but working and volunteering has great benefit for preserving people’s mental health. 

More details soon.    PS Graham bought a dozen seed potatoes to grow at home in containers. There are about 8 varieties available.