{"id":159758,"date":"2025-06-05T08:40:16","date_gmt":"2025-06-05T08:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/159758\/"},"modified":"2025-06-05T08:40:16","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T08:40:16","slug":"men-say-they-wouldnt-be-alive-without-this-merseyside-workshop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/159758\/","title":{"rendered":"Men say they ‘wouldn’t be alive’ without this Merseyside workshop"},"content":{"rendered":"

‘Come and see us, come and have a cup of tea with us and get involved’\"EddyEddy Flynn runs the Bootle Tool Shed(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n

Loneliness can happen to any of us. We could have a job one day and none the next; or maybe a long-term relationship has ended; in fact, there are countless circumstances that can leave someone socially isolated. Humans need to be around other humans, and not seeing anyone can easily spiral into anxiety and depression.<\/p>\n

However, there are solutions.<\/p>\n

Eight years ago, Eddy Flynn founded Bootle<\/a> Tool Shed, a workshop which specialises in woodwork and serves as somewhere for men who may be lonely, have mental health issues, or who might just be bored, to socialise while developing skills. The Shed, Eddy says, has taken in men who’ve been “written off” by society while members have even said they “wouldn’t be alive” if not for the work they do.<\/p>\n

The 58-year-old from Netherton<\/a> had been struggling with his own loneliness and mental health problems back in 2015 when he came up with the idea for the Tool Shed. He told the ECHO<\/a>: “I was looking for a woodworking group. I wasn\u2019t working and I just needed something for me.<\/p>\n

“My mental health wasn\u2019t great and I used woodwork as a way of dealing with that. But I became a bit isolated doing it on my own, in my shed.<\/p>\n

“I couldn\u2019t find a group so I asked a guy from Wigan, Dave, who was on a forum with me, and he asked me if I\u2019d ever heard of Men in Sheds. I said: \u2018No, I am one but I\u2019ve never heard of it\u2019.”<\/p>\n

Men in Sheds is a service run to support older men who want to get together, share and learn new skills – all in the welcoming space of a \u2018Shed’.<\/p>\n

After hearing about the initiative, Eddy began researching and visiting Sheds which he could get to and from within an hour or two. He added: “There was nothing close to me so I had a meeting with a guy who ran a Shed in another part of the north west, and ended up starting one myself.<\/p>\n

“The Shed network, nationally, is for men over 55, but at Bootle<\/a> Tool Shed we\u2019re a little different. We\u2019re open to men over the age of 18.<\/p>\n

\"BootleBootle Tool Shed members with Jamie Carragher<\/p>\n

“We have a mixed day on a Tuesday where we have men and women but it\u2019s predominantly a project for men. Men keep themselves to themselves and if men become isolated, whether that\u2019s through illness or retirement or anything, they tend to spiral into depression and anxiety.<\/p>\n

“Men used to just gather in the pub but the pub isn\u2019t the answer for someone suffering from mental health issues or loneliness.”<\/p>\n

Bootle Tool Shed has over 200 members. Speaking about how the workshop has helped many of them to tackle loneliness and mental health issues, Eddy said: “Our way of supporting men is to get them in the Shed, get them involved and, quickly, the social isolation goes out the window.<\/p>\n

“If you put four men in a room, they\u2019ll each find a corner and they won\u2019t speak to one another, but if you put them round a bench with an item that needs fixing, by the end of it you will have that item fixed and those guys will know each other\u2019s children\u2019s names.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019ve had guys in the past who\u2019ve almost been written off, some who could be at work if they had the confidence to. We\u2019ve had some really great successes. I\u2019m not saying that\u2019s just because of the Shed but, before they got involved with the Shed, they\u2019d be at home on medication, and now we know they\u2019re back in full-time employment.<\/p>\n

“We have had comments from our members who\u2019ve said they would not be alive if it wasn\u2019t for the Shed. That\u2019s a massive statement for someone to make but it\u2019s not an isolated one – we\u2019ve heard it time and time again.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019ve got guys who, once they\u2019ve built up their confidence here, go and get involved in other projects or volunteer with other community groups – and they get involved more with their wider families.<\/p>\n

“There’s men who had almost stopped going to family events and now, because they\u2019ve got that other outlet, they\u2019re happy to go to them and other community activities.”<\/p>\n

\"EddyEddy Flynn, 55, who created the Bootle Tool Shed stood at the front desk<\/p>\n

What does a typical day at Bootle Tool Shed look like? Eddy chuckles, saying: \u201cIt\u2019s usually quite manic. There\u2019s always lots of projects going on. We usually have between 10 and 15 members there on any one day.<\/p>\n

“We do woodwork, metal work, bicycle repairs, and a little bit of upholstery. If we\u2019ve got a big project, it can cause a little bit of drama and panic – these guys are not at work but they put their all into it as if they were.<\/p>\n

“Some guys will come in every day and some will come in once or twice a week. We\u2019ve got a membership of around 200 but we don\u2019t see 200 at any one time – our average is about 10 in a day.”<\/p>\n

Eddy adds: “Complete beginners are always welcome. If you\u2019ve got skills to share, that\u2019s fantastic and that\u2019s a bonus, but most of our guys haven\u2019t done woodwork since they were in school.<\/p>\n

“The first project we ever ask anyone to make is a simple bird box – it\u2019s something they can take home and put up on the fence, and it\u2019s an achievement. It also gets them involved in finding what\u2019s on the shelf, where the tools are and things like that.”<\/p>\n

Bootle Tool Shed, which is based on Derby Road, is “always growing,” Eddy says, but “as with everything – especially charitable organisations – it’s all down to funding.”<\/p>\n

He continued: “We\u2019ve been asked regularly if we can replicate this in other areas, and we are actively trying to do that. <\/strong>If we had the correct pot of funding, we could be in half a dozen other places by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

“People can help the sheds out by spreading the word. They don\u2019t even have to volunteer time or give us money. Just support us by asking us to make a garden bench for you; we\u2019re not looking for handouts and we know people need things in return.<\/p>\n

“We get a lot of support where people come in and say they want to help, but we could always use more.”<\/p>\n

If you’re a man who’s feeling isolated or bored, Eddy says: \u201cCome and see us, come and have a cup of tea with us and get involved. The hardest thing for 90% of our members to do is get across the door.”<\/p>\n

For more information on Bootle Tool Shed, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"‘Come and see us, come and have a cup of tea with us and get involved’Eddy Flynn runs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159759,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[2648,748,393,4884,179,218,457,455,456,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-159758","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-bootle","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-liverpool","13":"tag-mental-health","14":"tag-people","15":"tag-real-life","16":"tag-real-lives","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114629864720265045","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159758\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}