In the UK, a man’s shed is his castle. For some, it’s also a lifeline.

In the United Kingdom, there is a gently mocking stereotype about older men and sheds — the wooden outhouses usually found at the end of a garden. 

The cliche image is of an elderly man tinkering with tools for hours, alone and avoiding the outside world.

Things are more social in The Witney Shed, in the town of Witney in Oxfordshire, southern England. 

“I just like coming here; it’s the camaraderie with everybody,” said Tony Halcrow, a regular visitor to The Witney Shed, as he worked on a lathe, making wooden Christmas decorations. “And it gets me out of the house.”

In the large shed, situated behind a church-run community center, there’s space for about 10 shedders, as they are known, plus a few more working in the garden outside. They’re making bird boxes and other wooden objects, occasionally pausing for coffee and light banter.

The Witney Shed is one of around 1,100 community sheds in the UK, affiliated with the UK Men’s Sheds Association. The charity originated in Australia, and was set up in the UK around a decade ago, primarily to help older men tackle loneliness.

Some British community sheds charge small fees, but people can turn up to The Witney Shed for free, then join in with woodwork or just have a coffee. Most people who visit are seniors, but people of all ages are welcome.

“Anybody can come, even ladies,” said Phil Tarry, co-founder of The Witney Shed. “That’s why, although we’re part of the Men’s Sheds Association, we call it The Witney Shed, because if ladies want to come and do things, that’s fine.”

The shedders make wooden items like bird boxes, bat boxes and Christmas decorations, and sell them locally at cheap prices, to help fund the shed. They also help out local residents, schools and the church where the shed is based.

“On a Monday morning, the first thing is a toddler group in here, and they’re our best customers, for repairing toys. They’re [like], ‘Oh, can you do this? Phil, can you do that?’ ‘Yeah, no problem.’ And that’s what it’s about,” Tarry said.

Community sheds like these are opening all over the country. There’s now even an annual UK Men’s Shed Awards ceremony, honoring their community service, held on Nov. 19, International Men’s Day.

Many shedders say they visit the sheds just because they’re fun. For others, there are deeper benefits. In a recent UK Men’s Sheds Association survey, over a third of shed leaders said they believed that their community shed may have helped prevent a suicide. 

Tarry said he certainly thinks so.

“Loneliness is a very big part of it,” he said, “because there are a lot of lonely people out here. I live in sheltered housing, and I know what it’s like. Some people don’t see anybody from one week to another, and it is important to get those people to come out.”

Tarry said that some younger guys from a nearby special needs facility visit The Witney Shed each week to join in with basic woodwork. 

Local doctors have told some of their mental health patients about the shed. A couple of men with dementia also visit.

“You’ve got to be very patient because, with people with dementia, they’ll come and say, ‘What can we do today?’ and you say, ‘Oh, can you sand this?’ They’ll go off, then come back and say, ‘What are you doing today?’ You’ve got to be patient and say, ‘Yeah, it’s OK. Sand this,’” Tarry said.

Rachel Meadows, who works as the volunteer and community development manager for the UK Men’s Sheds Association, said that “one of the things people really like about sheds is they are kind of support without being badged as support.”

“We hear a lot that people find it easier to talk to each other when they’re engaged in an activity … it’s easier to talk shoulder-to-shoulder, rather than face-to-face,” she said. “Somebody’s not looking you in the eye and asking you to talk about your feelings, but there’s usually somebody at the shed who’s maybe been through something similar, or can relate to how you’re feeling.”

At The Witney Shed, one of the shedders introduced himself as Jay, who didn’t want to give his full name. 

“I’ve come up here because I spent too much time on my own,” he said. “Spending too much time [alone] has got me into a little bit of bother with the law enforcement … getting out two days a week is part of trying to stop myself being at a loose end.”

Nearby, an older man sat alone on a bench. Tarry asked him if he was OK. The man said he was fine, but a bit confused. But later, he suddenly stood up and started helping another man, glueing together a bird box. Moments like these show how powerful a shed can be.

Tarry said that his main problem is that The Witney Shed is so popular, they’ve decided their next woodwork project needs to be a shed extension.