Reddish Men in Sheds is a bike focused group for men to help combat loneliness and keep active. All while giving new life to bicycles and help to keep cycling access to more.
Loneliness can have a severe impact on both mental and physical health. So being able to connect with others, have a space to talk and keep active can be vital.
Reddish Men in Sheds is a group of (mainly) older men, many of whom are passionate about getting old bikes back on the roads, and learning practical new skills while doing so. They meet three afternoons each week to service and repair donated old bicycles. It’s a powerful initiative that both helps the men and the wider community.
For those men who have found themselves suffering loneliness, whether that is through retirement, being widowed or simply struggling to connect with others. It’s an important place to talk, learn skills and stay active.
Like Men's Sheds across the country, it's about improving wellbeing, reducing that feeling of loneliness and combatting social isolation.
Mary is administrator for Reddish Men in Sheds and earlier in the year she applied for some support from the Alpkit Foundation and let us know a bit more about the group.
"Our group has around 20 members at present and we sell/service approx 200 bikes per year. The bikes we repair get sold onto the community via a local charity shop (Re:Dish) or through direct sales. They are sold at modest prices to ensure that as many people as possible can access cycling regardless of income.
Along with the sale of bikes, we also give our children's bikes to a local school at Christmas and summer holiday times to enable some children to have their very own bike who would not otherwise get an opportunity to cycle."
They are a not-for-profit group and as they deliberately keep the bike prices low to help make sure more can have better access to cycling, it means they cannot rely on this alone to fund themselves, so the rest of the income comes from other grants or donations. So it was great to see hear back from them after attending the Cycle Fest in Levenshulme. It was a chance to raise the profile of the group alongside larger Manchester community groups and initiatives. With more awareness, they are hoping to become more self-sufficient for funding going forwards.