McArthur leads cross-party call on DFM to rethink men's shed funding cut

Orkney's MSP, Liam McArthur, has led a cross party initiative calling on the Scottish Government to rethink its proposed cut to support for the Men’s Shed movement in Scotland.

Last month, the Deputy First Minister announced plans to reverse a commitment to provide core and development funding to the Scottish Men’s Shed Association, which has supported the establishment and development of men's sheds across Scotland since 2014. The decision has promoted more than 3,600 people to sign a public petition calling for a rethink.

Following his efforts to raise the issue in parliament last month, Mr McArthur has now brought together MSPs from across the party spectrum in a united show of support for the men's shed movement in Scotland. The letter signed by 40 MSPs has warned that the proposed cut could put "unsupported pressure on thousands of volunteers" and lead to the "collapse of this national treasure".

Orkney's MSP has been a long-standing supporter of Men’s Sheds, including the Orkney Men’s Shed which was first opened in 2016. More recently, he has also been closely involved in supporting the establishment of a Men’s Shed in Sanday and was delighted to see similar plans emerging in relation to Westray.

Over the years, Mr McArthur has taken part in debates and lodged motions highlighting the movement's proven track record around the world in improving mental health amongst men. The sheds in Orkney join more than 200 other sheds across the country that support around 10,000 men aged over 18 to develop new hobbies and skills, while helping tackle social isolation.

Commenting, Mr McArthur said:

"The Men’s Shed movement has been a tremendous success over recent years with the number of Sheds and ‘Shedders’ across the country continuing to grow. This has been mirrored in Orkney where the success of the first men's shed has now led to plans being taken forward in Sanday and most recently Westray.

"I know from the experience in Orkney how rewarding it has been in providing men a place to gather, work and relax. Indeed, as it has been demonstrated across the world, these facilities can make a tangible difference in efforts to tackle loneliness, social isolation and mental ill health.

"It is therefore difficult to understand why Scottish Ministers are planning to withdraw funding to the men's sheds movement altogether. Against a backdrop of soaring demand for mental health services, now more than ever we need to redouble our commitment to this invaluable public health movement.

"The Men's Shed movement has long enjoyed strong cross-party support and I'm delighted to bring this together once again in a united message of support for the SMSA. Hopefully this will prompt the Scottish Government to rethink its proposed cut and continue providing the modest level of funding that helps do so much good in Orkney and communities across Scotland."

The letter reads as follows:

Dear Deputy First Minister,

We are writing to you today to give you a full picture of the present situation with respect to the Scottish Men’s Sheds Association (SMSA) and the Scottish Men’s Sheds Movement.

In 2009, Scotland, like many western countries, did not have a health movement which voluntarily engaged men over the age of 18. It took four years to open the first Scottish Men’s Shed in Westhill, Aberdeenshire, which you will recall visiting in 2013. During that visit, you were interested to see if this provision could be ‘scaled’ across Scotland.

Due to the success of this first Shed, and the subsequent scaling of it across Aberdeenshire, thanks to a full time dedicated Shed Development Officer, other communities and regions across Scotland became interested and sought to replicate the success of this unique engagement model. The Scottish Men’s Sheds Association charity was created in 2014 and attracted Scottish Government start-up funding to scale it up again in 2016.

Since then, the SMSA has continued to refine its Shed development pathway and created the first member-led health movement for men in Scotland. Presently, the SMSA has over 3,100 male and female members who support the charities aims and objectives, and the 10,000+ men who now make up the Scottish Men’s Sheds Movement across all 32 local authorities.

Presently, there are over 200 Men’s Sheds with 66 of these in development, and 8 are new post-pandemic. The SMSA is the central co-ordinating hub of the movement and therefore the proposed decision not only to not scale up support but to stop core funding altogether is regrettable and poses a serious risk to the sustainability and future development of Men’s Sheds across Scotland.

The SMSA’s patron and Scotland’s ex Chief Medical Officer Sir Harry Burns, the four-year research by Glasgow Caledonian University on Shed sustainability, and the Scottish Government’s own short life working group research all support the SMSA’s development plan over the next three years. None of these development proposals looks to outside corporate funding but rather like in the most successful countries (Australia and Ireland) who have statutory core and developmental funding they are benefitting from unprecedented growth, health and fiscal savings.

A national core hub association is vital to the sustainability and continued growth of what has become Scotland’s largest male health member-led movement and what has been described as one of the greatest mental and physical health developments of this generation.

In that context, while we appreciate the pressures on the Scottish Government’s budget overall, we are asking you to revisit the present core and developmental funding for the Scottish Men’s Sheds Association so that they can continue to build upon the needed requirements of the Scottish Men’s Sheds health movement for the people of Scotland, rather than putting unsupported pressure on these thousands of volunteers and see a collapse of this national treasure that they have worked so diligently and passionately to create.

Kind regards,

Liam McArthur MSP

Alexander Burnett MSP

Alex Rowley MSP

Kenneth Gibson MSP

Paul McLennan MSP

Neil Bibby MSP

Douglas Lumsden MSP

Miles Briggs MSP

Alexander Stewart MSP                     

Jeremy Balfour MSP

Sue Webber MSP                            

Tess White MSP

Murdo Fraser MSP                          

Roz McCall MSP

Graham Simpson MSP                        

Claire Baker MSP

Craig Hoy MSP                             

Maurice Golden MSP

Brian Whittle MSP                         

Liam Kerr MSP

Annie Wells MSP                           

Jamie Halcro-Johnston MSP

Paul Sweeney MSP                          

Audrey Nicoll MSP

Willie Rennie MSP                         

Beatrice Wishart MSP

Douglas Ross MSP                          

Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP

Jackson Carlaw MSP                              

Sharon Dowey MSP

Finlay Carson MSP                         

Martin Whitfield MSP

Monica Lennon MSP                         

Foysol Choudhury MSP

Paul O’Kane MSP                           

Sarah Boyak MSP

Colin Smyth MSP                           

Donald Cameron MSP

Jackie Baillie MSP                              

Daniel Johnson MSP