New men’s shed to transform underused hall in town

Project chiefs hope site will combat isolation

Plans are underway for a men’s shed where there will be plenty of chatter among the wood chippings.

Woodwork will be one of the activities on offer to men in Tenterden if the shed opens at Glebe Hall in Church Road.

Co-founder of the Tenterden Volunteer Centre, Graham Wise, hopes the project will gain the support of the town’s residents.

He said: “It’s all about communication and preventing social isolation.

“Men don’t have the same social networks as women and it will offer them a place to stand shoulder to shoulder.”

The group could offer repairs, make models, build benches and work on allotments, helping the community as well as themselves.

Graham, who together with James Sinclair, founded the Tenterden Volunteer Centre, just 15 months ago, said he was motivated to act after Googling ‘volunteering in Tenterden’ and failing to find a co-ordinated group.

He says he was also “mortified” by the Lipton Group report, which looked into how best the town council could spend a £3.5m windfall from the sale of Tent 1a housing land, in which a line referred to “a view from many that the desire to retain the town’s ‘chocolate box’ image was stronger than the desire to serve its community”.

“I was mortified by the fact I was part of this community,” said Graham, who has lived in Tenterden for 15 years.

“There are thousands of men’s sheds in Australia, where the movement started about 30 years ago.”

The under-used Glebe Hall in Church Road, which is owned by St Mildred’s, has been identified as a suitable meeting point for the town’s first ‘shedders’, which is the term to describe men who attend the sheds.

Now retired IT manager Graham needs volunteers to come forward to make it happen.

The Tenterden Volunteer Centre also wants to reinstate a volunteer driving service that is based in the town, instead of run from Ashford, to ferry people to and from doctors’ and hospital appointments.

An informal meeting to discuss the men’s shed will be held in the community room at Tenterden Tesco on Tuesday, September 3 at 11am and refreshments will be provided.

All are welcome.

■ For more information, call 01580 230290 or email info@tenterdenvolunteercentre.org.uk

Glebe Hall could be home to Tenterden’s first ‘shedders’

Graham Wise is hopeful the project will gain support