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Thanks to £10,000 funding from the National Lottery Community Fund and an offer of a site from Lissummon GFC, plans are in progress to build a Men's Shed at Lissummon. The townland is a quite isolated rural area with no shops or pubs and a lack of focal points for the men of the area to meet. A Men's Shed will provide the opportunity for them to come together to meet, socialise and create or work on projects together.
Lissummon District Men's Shed (LDMS) first met 24 May 2022 with a view to opening a Shed for all the men over the age of 18 in the area. The organising committee found the County Down Rural Community Network a fantastic resource for information and advice from the outset. The group are already members of Irish Men's Shed and British Men's Shed Associations. Even at this early stage they hosted a Men's Health night and intend to follow that up with other similar projects.
Eamon Quinn, Chair of LDMS said "The decision was made to build a shed so the committee were delighted when Lissummon GFC agreed to provide a plot of ground for the Shed. Next the committee applied to several charities for funding. To all our delight we were successful with an award of £10,000 being granted by The National Lottery Community Fund towards building our shed. We are extremely grateful to them for this award and will quickly put it to use."
The committee plan to commence work within weeks, with the initial ground works and utility preparation. They are seeking additional funding for this work and the fit-out of the shed on completion of the build so would be delighted to accept any offers for assistance from local businesses.
Men's Shed are based on the idea that men work better side by side than face to face and the act of building the shed together is part of the bonding process. From the outset the Shed will be wheelchair accessible and all men from the area are welcome. It is very much seen as a shared Shed.
When the Shed is completed we plan to have wood crafts, Metal crafts, Darts, Cards, Draughts etc. Anyone who would like to come along and help out with the work would be sure of a welcome and a bit of chat.
Annual Membership for Men from 18 to 100 is £20.
