Glenurquhart Men’s Shed set to move to new home thanks to £53k grant from Scottish Land Fund
A community group in Glenurquhart is set to get its first permanent home thanks to a grant to buy old forestry buildings.
Glenurquhart Men’s Shed - plus the new ‘She’ Shed - is temporarily located in an annexe at Blairbeg Hall in Drumnadrochit where it is “bursting at the seams”.
But after the group joined forces with the Glen Urquhart Rural Community Association (GURCA), funding totalling £53,894 was awarded by the Scottish Land Fund to acquire land with three buildings in Balnain.
The men’s shed now hopes to secure further funding totalling £70,000 to carry out essential work and maintenance at the former Forest and Land Scotland (FLS) site to enable it to move in.
Plans for major revamp of hall dealt funding blow
Moves to build new sports and community centre in Loch Ness village
Drumnadrochit men's shed group awarded £3000
The Glenurquhart Men’s Shed provides a meeting place for men with time on their hands willing to act with the skills they already have within their local community.
Activities include community projects, replacing and refurbishing village notice boards, building picnic benches and garden planters and a community repair service.
After being being based in the old caretaker’s cottage at Blairbeg Hall for several years, it now has 22 members while a Ladies’ Shed has also recently been formed.
The acquisition of the forestry buildings has been made possible through FLS’s community asset transfer scheme.
Glenurquhart Men’s Shed committee member David Ferguson explained why the planned move to its new base will make a difference.
“We have been held back a bit because our existing premises are just too small,” he said.
“The old forestry buildings include two offices and a workshop and are ideal.
“They all need a degree of maintenance.
“The workshop is probably the most neglected building while the two office buildings could be used almost immediately with some minor maintenance.”
The work required includes roof replacement, the formation of a parking area, replacing windows and doors, making the buildings more energy efficient, a site tidy-up and provision of a storage facility.
The plan is to make the small office building available for rent while the workshop could also be rented out to local groups and the local school when it is not being used by the men’s shed.
“The facility will help to address issues of isolation, providing regular social interaction and thus improving mental and physical wellbeing,” Mr Ferguson said.
“The two community consultations we held, confirmed strong community support for the project and identified a need for rentable office space/hot desking facility which we intend to offer once we are established.
“It will also provide a facility for the newly formed Ladies’ Shed.”
Mr Ferguson said the workshop could provide a base for DIY courses or community projects in an appropriate setting.
So far, £20,000 has been secured towards the costs of carrying out the maintenance work with a further £50,000 under negotiation.
The Scottish Land Fund is funded by the Scottish Government and delivered in partnership by the National Lottery Community Fund and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
