SHEDDING ON NEW SKILLS
Women’s Shed is giving its members a huge boost
A project that aims to empower women by giving them new skills is going from strength to strength.
The Women’s Shed was set up in Foxbar back in January to give women a space to build friendships, confidence...and get their hands on power tools.
Since then, the weekly meet-ups have grown, with a regular crowd of 16 people going along to learn new things and share their own skills and experiences.
The Women’s Shed was the brainchild of Deborah Hamilton, 28. She started getting involved with Foundations First — the Shelter-run project in Foxbar — and learned about the Men’s Shed.
She said: “Shelter helped me through a bad time. I had a support worker and she told me about Foundations First and that’s how I learned about the Men’s Shed.”
“I’m an engineer by trade. I started volunteering at the Men’s Shed and seeing the kind of things they do. It was rewarding, speaking to guys and seeing how it’s supported them. “So I thought it would be good
to set up a Women’s Shed.”
Members can learn about woodwork, arts and crafts, jewellery and using sewing machines. They’ve also honed their DIY and painting and decorating skills.
TNR, a Renfrew company that makes shipping crates, donates wood to the project which the women use to make things like bird boxes and clocks.
They’ve had workshops from Bosch on how to use power tools and have also had sessions with
LEAP about energy efficiency and
HSBC about budgeting and banking. “It’s about women gaining more confidence in themselves,” said Deborah. “But they can also just come along for a coffee.
“It’s growing — there’s usually at least one new person every week.
Mum-of-four Yvonne L i v i n g s t o n e, who has a one- year- old granddaughter, learned about the project through her son.
She said: “My son shared a Facebook post about it and said I should go along because I don’t go out much.
“So I came along and the lassies all made me feel really welcome. I’ve been coming ever since.
“I have my own business, Vonne Alley, and make my own jewellery at home.
“I said I could make some jewellery if people were interested and everybody was. It’s nice to share my