Carluke Men's Shed is back in business

However, the small matter of a global pandemic could not be overcome and the event, planned for March 27 last year, had to be postponed indefinitely.

Since May, Shedders have been able to resume meetings in Carluke Leisure Centre every Friday from noon to 2pm – much to the delight of members who had been missing their regular catch-ups.

And very soon they will be taking up residence in their new digs, two Portacabins located on the High Mill site.

These were bought with money donated by the Big Lottery Fund and the Robertson Trust, as well as the group’s own fundraising activities.

Tom Kennedy, group treasurer and trustee, is working closely with Carluke Development Trust – which oversees the site – to establish a water and electricity supply.

It is hoped work will be completed by the end of September, finally allowing the Shed to have its longed for open day.

Tom said: “We’d ideally like to have it before the winter sets in so the sooner we can get the water and electricity up and running, the better.

"In the meantime, we’ll continue to meet in the leisure centre and we’d be more than happy to hear from anyone who would like to join us.”

There are big plans for the future too; the Shed has received additional funding from Persimmon Homes which it hopes to put towards a third Portacabin on the site.

The three units would then form a U-shape, with a canopy draped over the courtyard in the middle to provide a covered outside seating area for members.

Tom hopes that, in future, Shed members will be able to meet three times a week – leaving the facilities open for use by other community groups.

He said: “Cabin one is going to be used as our recreation area as it houses the kitchen and toilet facilities. Cabin two will be solely for our woodworking and members have been asked for their suggestions for cabin three.

"We’d like to meet up three times a week but that would leave the facilities open for others to use – we could even see a ladies shed operating on the days that we don’t or other community groups making use of them. It’s a facility the whole community can use."

With that in mind, Tom recently successfully applied to St Andrew’s First Aid for a defibrillator for the site.

Last Friday, the charity's operations and policy director James Dorman attended the Shed meeting to present the equipment and give a tutorial on its use.

Tom added: “We were delighted that the Shed was successful in its bid for the equipment. Our aim is to install it outside one of our cabins so that it can be used by anyone who needs it on the High Mill site.”

Carluke Men’s Shed was first established in 2019, after a mobile unit in the town proved popular.

Every meeting now attracts between 10 and 16 members who enjoy the social interaction it offers.

Tom is one of four committee members who oversee the running of the group; together they ensured that members remained in touch throughout the pandemic, with emails and phone calls keeping them posted.

That ensured that interest in the group never waned, despite the fact physical meetings could not take place.

Members are hoping more men will now join. For details, email [email protected] or call 07763 876084.