IT is tools at the ready for a local project that teaches woodworking skills to older men after it received a huge donation of waste wood destined for landfill.
The Men in Sheds project, run by Age UK Barnsley, provides carpentry and wood-turning activities for the over 50s who want to get together and learn new skills in the man-friendly space of a big shed.
It has received a hefty stockpile of wood from the National Grid and its contractor Babcock which is working on a programme of repair and maintenance works to an overhead line that runs through Barugh Green, is 45km long, crosses two motorways and the East Coast railway mainline.
As part of the project National Grid has entered into a partnership with the Men in Sheds project to donate and deliver waste wood cuttings that would otherwise go to landfill or be incinerated.
Malcolm Poskitt is the project co-ordinator of Men in Sheds, which has its workshop on the ground floor of the Newburgh Building on McLintock Way in Barnsley.
He said the donation will keep the group going for quite some time.
“Working with reclaimed wood is a fantastic resource for our men to work with and does not distract from the quality of the finished products they make,” said Malcolm.
“Working with scrap wood is not only good for the environment but fires the imagination of our men. We need donations of wood in order to continue this work, so it’s fantastic that an organisation such as National Grid has provided such a lot of brilliant materials, meaning our participants can continue to hone their woodwork skills.”
Malcolm said the project, which has National Lottery funding, is a place where like-minded older men can come together and have a chat over tea and biscuits while learning new skills such as woodworking, IT, art and much more.
He added: “The shed aims to support older men aged 50 and over who may have experienced life changing events such as redundancy, retirement, bereavement and mental or physical ill-health.”
National Grid has donated 1.25 tonnes of wood so far to the Men in Sheds cause. Andrew Neilly, an engineer for National Grid, organised the donation. He said: “We are always looking to work closely with the communities in which we’re working and this is a perfect fit. It’s great to be able to donate materials that we no longer need to such worthy causes and help such a great project continue its work within the Barnsley community.
“As well as benefiting the community we are working in, this partnership also reduces the amount of waste produced by the project, thus helping us reach our target of zero waste from our projects.”
Age UK Barnsley has also received a £10,000 grant from National Grid’s Bringing Energy to Life fund to support the organisation’s work to tackle social isolation.
The project is open Monday to Friday, for 51 weeks of the year, only closing at Christmas for a week.
Contact 730412 for more details or email or email m.poskitt@ageukbarnsley.org.uk.
