Shed life

“Growing up with dyslexia in 1960s and 1970s Britain significantly impacted on my life”, Simon told Dyslexia Voice. “Like many from that generation, I severely struggled with education and even moved to a school for children with special educational needs but this didn’t help either. I could not read or write and was never once offered support on a one-to-one basis.

“This unfortunately continued into my adult life and evening lessons until I became depressed by the constant pressure and frustration. My working life was no different, I had difficulties learning new roles and responsibilities and could not cope with any task which involved paperwork, so was dismissed.

“After a major car accident, I became housebound but my caring wife Marion helped and encouraged me to try and do things to fill my days. This resulted in a passion for DIY and woodwork in my shed, working with electrics and concrete, and led to me converting our double house into one.

“Then one day, I heard about the Scottish Men’s Shed Movement which originated in Australia over thirty years ago. Known for my woodwork skills, I was offered premises from Getting Better Together in Shotts to start-up a Men’s Shed in our local area. The Shed was donated some timber to make a reindeer sleigh for the local community which I thoroughly enjoyed but when we had no wood left or tools available, I felt overwhelmed trying to set it all up on my own. Depression took over again and I gave up.”

New friendships

Then 72-years-young, Royal Engineer Commando veteran Ray Elliott came on the scene. Ray took one look at the empty Shed, saw its huge potential to benefit the health and wellbeing of men in the local area, and using his ‘gift of the gab’ went scavenging to local factories, construction sites and companies to share the dream for the local Men’s Shed to acquire some materials to get to work on some projects for the community. Ray spoke to Getting Better Together in Shotts and asked them to reach out to Simon to invite him to come along on his return from holiday.

Ray said, “Simon arrived at the Getting Better Together workshop and stood in the doorway absolutely amazed. Shelving was up and workbenches, vices and timber were in place and I simply asked, “So, are we going to work together on this?” and that was the beginning of our friendship and teamworking.

“Simon and I quickly bonded working together in the Shed. The Scottish Men’s Shed model is not all older guys in a wood workshop – Scottish Sheds are open to all men aged 18 or over from all walks of life and the most important part is the banter and camaraderie and forging friendships.

“Men with little or no interest in woodwork join for the social aspect and play games or take part in hobbies or just come in for a brew.
“Simon explained what happened with the shed and how his dyslexia can affect his mood and confidence. His frustrations led to him putting up a wall and the fight or flight response kicked in. As Simon opened up to me and shared his past experiences, I offered to take on the paperwork and dealing with customers – tasks that would overwhelm him especially when customers would ask for measurements of items. I would however always update Simon, so he was kept involved and informed on each project we worked on. Dyslexia has not stopped Simon from being a huge and valuable part of our Shed life. If unsure of anything, he just asks me to go over it again or I draw a plan and clear instructions for Simon to follow.”

Simon said, “Connecting with my local Men’s Shed has been a godsend. My fellow member Ray supports me to ‘measure twice, cut once’ and we work together as a team on everything. Being a perfectionist, I like to check and check again and am proud of the fabulous work I have created. I am also involved in the Shed’s local radio show and have become confident with operating the slides, fading the music or talk out and preparing the music tracks. I even delivered the show independently when Ray was off ill. I really feel like a valued part of the Shed team and have a newfound purpose in life.”