Roehampton Community Shed reopens

Last week, we re-opened our new community Shed in Roehampton. The Shed is a space that gives older people opportunities to get their confidence back with weekly groups of men and women that can meet and work on practical projects, such as furniture upcycling, mostly using reclaimed wood on their projects. It is a social and friendly group aimed at combating loneliness and health issues in older people.

The likes of hand-made ludo boards, hedgehog boxes and a variety of Christmas decorations were on display. Iorwerth said “I like working with my hands and get a lot of pleasure from being here’ and John said “this has given me a bunch of good friends as well as an opportunity to do something good in the community.’

Housing Cllr Jonathan Cook said: “This is a wonderful project…in light of the last 18 months, this sort of initiative has never been more important. It’s an opportunity for people to get together, build friendships and learn new skills, and the council is very pleased to support it.”

Emma Chisholm, Community and Wellbeing Lead for Age UK Wandsworth said that the Shed, although set up for older people ‘welcomes people of all ages to get involved’. Charles, who had ill health for quite a few years, started helping out at the Shed. It inspired him into doing a Master’s in design at Central St Martins. He hails the social aspect of the Shed, as members tend to joke around and chat over tea and coffee, as well as the craft as a meditative practice.

The address of the Roehampton Shed is Portswood Place, Roehampton, SW15 4EB. For more information call 020887718955.