Employees from Baywater Healthcare have raised £500 for local men’s support group, Men in Sheds.
Based on a concept that started in Australia, Men in Sheds provides a place where men aged 50 and over can meet to undertake a range of activities including woodworking, metalworking, art and computing.
It provides the men, or ‘shedders’, with a place to meet and a chance to develop a skill or learn a new one. In Australia, the project has expanded rapidly in the past few years and there are over 1,000 sheds.
Periodically, Baywater Healthcare employees nominate a charity. Employees vote for their favourite cause, with the winning charity receiving all the money raised from a variety of fundraising activities – anything from cake sales to an office tuck shop.
Men in Sheds was nominated by Healthcare Helpline Advisor, Anne-Marie Mounfield, who said: ‘It’s such a great project. It gives old men who may be single, widowed, retired, or have been made redundant, the chance to socialise with other like-minded people.’
Adam Sullivan, Chief Executive of Baywater Healthcare, added: ‘Men in Sheds provides a valuable service to the community. Many of the patients we support through our homecare services are also socially isolated so it’s a particularly relevant cause for us. We’re delighted to offer our support.’
