Meigle and Ardler Community Development Trust is delighted to announce the launch of our new exciting project - the Community Shed.

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Why...

We've been planning a community shed since the dark days of lockdown, when it became clear that, despite our close-knit community, it was easy for people to become isolated. 
The idea of the Community Shed is inspired by the Men’s Shed movement which began in Australia in the 1980s as a means of promoting health and well-being  in older men by getting them together over shared activities (such as woodworking or horticulture) and creating an environment where they could talk openly and share problems. 
The Shed movement has really taken hold in the UK over the last few years. In Scotland alone there are over 200 sheds either active or - like ours - in development.

We have always felt that our shed should be inclusive, so ours won't be just for men! Everyone should be able to benefit from a creative space where ideas, stories, knowledge and skills - as well as happinesses and woes- could be shared. 

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Where...

We're very happy to have partnered with Scottish Outdoor Education Centres who have made one of the huts at Belmont
Centre available for us to occupy. This is an amazing location,  set in beautiful Belmont Woods - right in between our villages of Meigle and Ardler. It is easily accessible by car, or through the woods on foot or by bike. 

We're very grateful to SOEC chief executive officer Jamie Miller and centre manage Jonny Channon for helping us make this happen.

Work will be beginning very soon to create an amazing space for our Shed.

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Who...

The project is being led by Ali Napier, a Meigle resident since 2003. Ali has encountered Mens' Shed activity through his work at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, University of Dundee, where he works mainly in digital manufacturing processes. 
Ali is also a MACDT trustee, and is setting up a small team of volunteers to help get the project underway.
(If you'd like to help out at this stage in the process, please feel free to get in touch at macdt.comms@gmail.com )

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The other half of the equation is, of course, building a membership - a community shed is nothing without people to make use of it  - so we're looking for local residents who would like to benefit from what the Shed has to offer.

We've consciously made absolutely no decisions on what activities will be available  -  this will be entirely up to shedders to decide how it is used. Some ideas could include:

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• woodwork

• light metalwork

• ⁠horticulture

• repair and restoration

• ⁠electronics

• ⁠working with fabrics

• a centre for making street furniture for our communities / church /school / hall

• drinking tea and chatting!

• ⁠a mix of any of the above

• your own ideas!

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What we can say is that we have already attracted significant funding to make this happen, so there is a healthy budget in place to facilitate whatever direction the shed takes. 

We'd also like to run events, workshops and classes in the space, and have already received many offers to facilitate these activities.

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When...

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We are now in the process of finalising access to the premises, and are working towards making it accessible to members. We would like to to be opening the Shed doors by the end of Summer 2024.
Look out for posters and flyers in the community over the next few weeks  - they'll let you know how you can get involved in shaping the Shed. We'll be updating regularly as the project progresses on Facebook, Instagram and here on the MACDT website.  In the meantime,  for any further information, or if you wish to donate, please contact us at: 

macdt.comms@gmail.com 

 

We look forward to hearing from you!

 

Funders

We're incredibly grateful to the following funders and donors for their help in making this project a reality: