Solace in a cycle project
SARAH ROE
EVERY week, at an industrial container next to the visitor centre at Reddish Vale Country Park, a group of men meet to fix bicycles and talk. Local people bring in unloved children’s bikes, neglected steeds rusting in garden sheds or cycle by to get a maintenance check-up.
In spite of its unassuming appearance, this simple shed started by the charity Sustrans is part of an international movement called Men In Sheds, first started in Australia, which helps older men to learn and improve skills, form new friendships and become part of their community.
Most of the men are over 50 and feel isolated in some way due to unemployment, divorce, retirement or illness and this is a safe space to talk.
While they tweak brake cables and fix gears and chainsets, another type of healing goes on.
Eric Northey, a retired academic from Manchester Metropolitan University, first joined the group shortly after he was diagnosed with epilepsy at 71 years old, which meant he couldn’t drive for at least a year after the seizure. He started cycling.
He explained: “I was visiting Reddish Vale on my bike and someone told me about the project. I’m not very technical but I really enjoyed learning at least one new procedure a week and talking to the other men.
“Men often don’t talk about their feelings but they open up when they’re doing something. We’re working with our hands and aware of the person next to us and we chat sometimes about quite difficult things.”
A couple of people in the group are stroke victims, he says, a big psychological adjustment which makes it difficult to join in with activities.
“One of our members is now gradually talking about gears and brake blocks, which is helping to increase his vocabulary.
“It’s great we can see that a new word is being added each week. People talk about divorce or a breakdown. We’re all there for some reason and bond over similar circumstances.”
They fix and spruce up around five bicycles a month and, for a small donation, give them to local people who need one. It might be transport for someone on a low income who wants to cycle to work or to help tackle a health problem by getting more active.
The group also donates the bikes to local schools, working to encourage children and their parents to cycle their daily commutes. Stockportbased Cale Green Primary school, which recently won the Sustrans Gold Award for its continued efforts to get more children active on their daily journeys to the school gate, is one of the recipients.
The team is busy with a constant flow of dilapidated bikes, which are deposited at the shed, and requests for finished bikes. They really need some new recruits and sometime soon the group wants to get out on their bikes and cycle the nearby Transpennine Trail.
Sustrans’ Men in Sheds will be at the Family Fun Day in Reddish Vale on Sunday, July 17.
For more information about the project, contact sarah.roe@ sustrans.org.uk. Sustrans set up the National Cycle Network and helps more people walk, cycle or use public transport for short journeys.