In episode 372 of The Just Checking In Podcast our Founder Freddie flew solo for a one-off episode investigating a men’s mental health organisation we had previously been big supporters and champions of, Men’s Sheds.
We even interviewed former CEO of the UK Men’s Sheds Association, the body who oversee all Men’s Sheds in the UK, Charlie Bethel in JCIP #249, in July 2024.
Men’s Sheds are community-based, non-commercial spaces where men gather to socialise, share skills, and work on practical projects. Designed to reduce loneliness and combat social isolation, these workshops focus on building, repairing, and collaborating while significantly improving mental health and well-being.
The reason for this episode is because we stumbled across some threads on Twitter/X from men claiming that Men’s Sheds, a space deliberately and purposely created as a men-only space, were now accepting female members. This wasn’t just an isolated one-off incident but allegedly on mass.
Surprised, angry, and confused, we decided to investigate and the public data we very easily found disappointed us.
On the UK Men’s Sheds Association website, on a section called ‘Women’s Health and Wellbeing’ it states that “between 30% & 40% of Men’s Sheds in the UK have women involved in them”.
We speak about the implications of this, why this means in our view that Men’s Sheds are currently no longer safe spaces for men only, and provide a public example of women invading these sheds too, in a Shed in Loughborough, Leicestershire.
We know there are some fantastic people who work at the UK Men’s Sheds Association, and we hope they listen to this episode, heed our warning and take action to protect the long-term mental health of the men they claim to support.
We don’t want Men’s Sheds to fall, we want them to reflect, adapt and remember what their founding purpose was for.
As always, #itsokaytovent
In response to this episode, a UK Men’s Sheds Association spokesperson said: “UK Men’s Sheds Association doesn’t run or operate any Sheds, we’re here to provide support.
“As each Shed is independent and self-determining, they’re responsible for deciding their own membership in line with the needs of their members and communities. We don’t determine who Sheds include in their activities.
“Sheds choose to welcome members in a variety of ways – mixed sessions, men only sessions or women only sessions, while many remain men-only. This reflects the autonomy of individual Sheds rather than any change in the purpose of the movement or UK Men’s Sheds Association.
“Most people don’t join Sheds for health benefits, mental health or otherwise; those are important but ancillary benefits. As a result, we’ve always been happy to support both those Sheds who feel a need to preserve a safe space for men and those Sheds who feel their primary goal is met by mixed membership. Our focus is on supporting Sheds to create safe, supportive environments where members can connect, share skills and improve their wellbeing.”
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