We’re delighted to announce a new project: Prescribing Nature with Men in Sheds. From Spring 2022, our workshops and wild land will be busy with the sounds of sawing, hammering, lively conversation and laughter as we welcome the very first group of Men In Sheds in Devon’s Teign Valley.
Kick-started by local GP Jim Hayter, this is a pioneering mental health project in the South West that brings men from our local community together for community and nature connection, the perfect post-lockdown activities. Doctors are prescribing nature and connection to the wild.
“Men on the Hill” is inspired by the Men in Sheds movement and will provide a supportive space where men can meet and work alongside each other on a range of projects and learn and share skills to bring about a shared sense of purpose.
The project will engage men who are experiencing or at-risk of experiencing social isolation, loneliness and a lack of daily purpose. It is expected that most participant will be retired, but men of any age will be able to access the project. Using Embercombe as its base, the group will initially meet on a fortnightly basis and make use of our workshop and the Green Wood Space and will assist and be involved with various carpentry projects, outdoor activities such as hedge laying, rewilding projects, and nature and environmental projects such as building bat and bird boxes.
Thank you to Devon Community Foundation for funding this project and for working with GPs in prescribing nature!
The group meets every Wednesday at Embercombe’s woodworking workshop, more information can be found on: teignvalleyshed@gmail.com