National Lottery cash boost sees Finechty Men's Shed ready to power up
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FINECHTY Men's Shed are celebrating landing a five-figure boost.
The group, which is in the process of building up clubhouse and workshop units at their East Beach location in the village, have been handed a £10,000 from the National Lottery which will help bring power and water to the site.
Welcoming the news of the grant, Men's Shed member Steve Lambie said: "We need to get electricity, fresh water and waste water into the site, which will probably cost in the region of £16,000 when it's done.
"It'll have to be brought in from New Street which is a fair distance away.
"We're hoping to have everything done by the end of October or the start of November although it depends on tying everybody together – the contractors, Scottish water and SSE.
"It'll make a massive difference to what we can do here. It means we can open more often and in the evenings, too. The generator we have has been good but it's very limited to what it can do. We couldn't run heating, for example, off the generator.
"There's also the noise aspect to the generator as well."
Bringing power to the site will allow the Men's Shed to operate their two new workshops, which were put in place earlier this year and have now been fitted out to accommodate equipment for woodworking in one and electrical and mechanical repairs in the other.
While the current lack of utilities has limited what Finechty Men's Shed can do, they most certainly have not been idle.
Group member Jimmy Bremner said: "We've been doing not too badly at all.
"A big project for us recently was revamping the patients' garden at Muirton Ward in Buckie.
"Our next project is at Findochty Primary School where we'll be helping build a garden for quiet reading and we're still working with the nursery.
"We've also been asked by Millbank Primary to build a sheltered area for them to use as part of their foodshare scheme.
"We've got a good team of guys who're working very hard to get things done. We've come a long way over the last six months, from the site here basically being a patch of grass with a sign on it to our clubhouse and workshops. We've still got a lot to do, though."
Once the utilities are in place, Men's Shed members will be looking to create a disabled toilet on the site and also offer computing facilities in the clubhouse, among other things.
Mr Bremner added that group membership continued to rise, now standing at over 40. They had gained quite a few recruits, he said, from men passing by the site while out walking in the scenic coastal area.
While Finechty Men's Shed seeks to promote a wide range of activities – including just popping down for a cuppa and a chat – its primary function is to tackle social isolation and encourage good mental health and wellbeing among men.
The Men's Shed meets every Monday, Wednesday and Friday between 10am and 2pm, with men aged 18 and upwards welcome.
For more news and updates, follow Finechty Men's Shed on Facebook and @FinechtyShed on Twitter.
