Men’s sheds funding model
After procedural corrections identifying Deputy Roche, he asks for certainty over threatened men’s sheds funding. The Minister praises their community and wellbeing role and indicates she will engage with the issue.
Last weekend, I happened to be out doing some community events and on three occasions I met three different individuals who are representative of the men's sheds. They all came with the same story about the threat to the funding model that they had and the fear that maybe the funding has ceased for this year. I know that some works were done in the interim but what I want to do, given the outstanding commitment that they make to the men's sheds and the community effort that they are involved with in tackling loneliness and promoting well-being, I want us to be sure that the funding model that we put in place is fit for purpose and does not threaten those very schemes into the future.
Comment on this
I met a number of members of men's sheds at the National Ploughing Championships this week and they raised this matter with me directly. I have known and worked with men's sheds locally and at a national level for many years. As the Deputy said, I can only commend the position and role that they have in our communities in addressing the well-being of older men and health issues, and bringing people together in a way that simply did not exist before they were put in place. I commend the teams that operate, deliver, expand and manage them. I have no doubt about the commitment of the Department responsible. At this stage, it crosses over a number of different Departments naturally. That commitment to funding will remain but we need to ensure that where they are growing, which they are, and to open up in different counties that the funding can grow and expand with them. I will raise this directly with the relevant Ministers and bring back the Deputy's comments.