Dumfries Men’ Shed Launch Appeal for Help to Stay Open

Dumfries Men’s Shed was established in 2015 and ever since then our purpose has been to help advancement of health by addressing the social health and wellbeing needs of people of all ages and backgrounds, living in Dumfries and the surrounding area.

A spokesperson from Dumfries Men’s Shed Said “We do this through the creation, upkeep, and development of facilities in which people can meet jointly, or individually, to undertake creative, physical, and recreational activities of their choice.

Recent surveys have shown a rise in the social isolation of people, as we live longer and stay in our homes far longer than we used to do. Loneliness affects around 40% of older people in Scotland. This can have serious health impacts both mentally and physically, making people more vulnerable to illness and disease.

We are not here just for those in retirement but also for those without jobs, those recovering from illness and those trying to make a better life for themselves for whatever reason. Since our first closure in 2019 due to COVID-19 we have had a serious financial impact on Dumfries Mens Shed, from costs of upgrading and making our new facility fit for purpose and making it safe and organised for our members and the public, all the way to heating and lighting our new facility this costs us in the region of £400-£500 a month. We are a not-for-profit charitable organisation, so we heavily rely on donations and grant funding to manage the costs we incur every month.

So many people in Dumfries and the surrounding area rely on Dumfries Mens Shed remaining open especially due to the cost-of-living crisis we are going through, we provide a warm place for people to go and provide a hot meal which in the next few coming months might be the only meal some of our older members might eat.”

They continued “As stated above we are currently struggling financially due to lighting, heating, food, lift and other bills and this might in the next couple of months lead to the unfortunate closure of Dumfries Men’s Shed which would be a really unfortunate outcome for a lot of the community of Dumfries and Galloway.

If anyone at all who sees this could possibly help by donating as little as £1 it would be an amazing start and an amazing help to Dumfries Mens Shed. As the saying goes every little helps.

Our go fund me link can be found here: https://bit.ly/dfsmenshed-gofundme

Thank you for taking the time to read this post all of the Committee at Dumfries Mens Shed appreciate everyone`s support.”