How we got started

Practice Nurse Sarah Everett, on consulting with men who were retired, unfit for work, or unemployed, felt there were very few groups for men in the Govan area, whereas there were some really good groups for women. She asked a group of guys if they were willing to set up a group and get a “Men’s Shed” up and running, and they were very keen.

The very first Founding members were John Affleck, John Alexander, John Devlin, Frank Murphy, Gordon Caird and Sammy Black, and it soon expanded to 15 of a set -up team. With the support of the GPs in the Yellow Practice, Govan Health Centre where she works, she got in touch with Mark Ellis – Community Development Officer to get the ball rolling. She applied for initial funding from the Queen’s Nursing Institute Scotland to set up the project, and the guys were brilliant in their hard work and perseverance in getting it off the ground. We formed a committee and were successful in achieving charity status in January 2018.

We managed to find 31 Arngask Road, a former nursery near the Health Centre, which is ideal for the Shed. We asked Councillor Ricky Bell to help and as a result, we got the keys in December 2017. It has a good number of rooms and a large outdoor space so that members can have lots of projects and interests on the go. We have worked really hard in refurbishing it, as the walls were covered with mildew and dirty inside, and the garden all overgrown. We have done a superb job after much painting, fixing, replacing, and labouring in the garden to make it a really pleasant place to be.

The work on improving the Shed continues. There’s much still to be done but there are many talented, willing and able members of the Shed, and many hands make light work.