Cowes Men’s Shed recently received a donation of £600 from the Morrisons Foundation to buy a computer to provide IT workshops for their members.
The Morrisons Foundation was set up by Morrisons supermarket in 2015 and awards grants for charity projects which help improve people’s lives. Since launching, over £39 million has been donated to hundreds of charities across England, Scotland and Wales.
Cowes Men’s Shed is open to everyone aged 18 and over and not just men, with a quarter of the charity’s members being women.
The charity offers a carpentry workshop, where furniture is renovated and provided to families on low incomes, as well as a craft room, gardens with polytunnels, raised beds and a relaxing seating area and the IT workshop that was supported by the Morrisons Foundation.
Adam Martin, Project Lead at Storeroom 2010 said:
“The positive impact the donation from the Morrisons Foundation will have on our organisation and the community we work with cannot be overstated. The support will help us to make a real difference in the lives of individuals and communities, tackling social isolation across the Isle of Wight and putting smiles on faces.”
David Scott, Morrisons Foundation Trustee says:
“In a world that is ever moving towards a digital environment, it’s highly important to ensure as many people in the community have access to and the skills to use IT equipment. That’s why I’m very proud that the Foundation has been able to offer this support to isolated members of the community to learn new skills and be internet savvy, which will make a massive difference to their everyday lives.”
Article continues below this advertisement
“Most men have learned from our culture that they don’t talk about feelings and emotions many do not take an interest in their own health and well-being. Unlike women, most men are reluctant to talk about their emotions and that means that they usually don’t ask for help. Probably because of this, many men are less healthy than women, drink more, take more risks and suffer more from isolation, loneliness and depression. Relationship breakdown, retrenchment or early retirement from a job, loss of children following divorce, physical or mental illness are just some of the problems that men may find difficult to deal with on their own.The Men’s Shed movement has now become a powerful tool for addressing health and wellbeing and helping men.”
Men’s sheds are there to help men by sharing time together, talking and having fun. They help to reduce loneliness, improve health, and prevent suicide, among other benefits. That is why they were started in the first place. They are exclusively for men just as the WI is exclusively for women. Allowing women to join is contrary to all of the aims of Men’s Sheds.
Another £600 as a shed they recently received £250,000 from the National Lottery surely they could have brought a computer out of that money.
This is why the other sheds on the island two of them being independent charities are struggling to get grant money. This includes one shed being told by the National Lottery they can not have a grant as they have already given a large amount of money to sheds on the island.