30/06/2025
A few weeks ago, we were delighted to welcome Men in Sheds, a group organised by Age UK BEXLEY to our Shenstone School project.
Men in Sheds brings together retired men with backgrounds in hands-on trades. They meet regularly to build timber-based projects which often support the local community.
We approached Men in Sheds and their lead Emily Willey, last summer to explore ways we could collaborate on a project for Shenstone School's new garden. Since then, our project team have been setting aside timber offcuts in preparation for the collaboration. Last week, Men in Sheds confirmed they have enough material to create picnic benches, standard benches, and raised planters - designed for wheelchair accessibility, more than we originally hoped to achieve.
The group will also visit the school when it opens in September to build bird boxes alongside the students - a great way to get the pupils involved whilst teaching practical skills and learning about sustainability.
It was a real pleasure to have Men in Sheds join us, not only are they excited to start the project, they enjoyed being back on site, reminiscing about their days on the tools, and hearing how our team about how the construction process has evolved.
It is great to see this partnership finally come to life. This is a fantastic example of how social value and the circular economy can come together to enrich the lives of others.
Photos of the end result to come soon!
Social Value Lead, Sasha Silk | Project Team, Nathan C***s, Darran Richardson, Darren Lillis | Head of Social Value, Steph Harris
Client: London Borough of Bexley, TKAT ACE & Shenstone School, Lori Ann Mackey
