TO mark International Men’s Day this Wednesday, the Belfast Men’s Health Group and Groundwork NI have arranged an inaugural event for Belfast-based Men’s Sheds and local men’s health groups. 

The event offers Health and Wellbeing support, practical advice and opportunity from around 25 organisations, featuring live demos, informative sessions, one-to-one health advice, and much more. Men’s health groups and individual men are welcome to come along on the day to find out what services and organisations they can avail of – with the promise of useful networking and connections to be made. 

This will be a great chance for Men's Sheds to meet other Sheds, share knowledge and expertise that will help other groups develop and sustain themselves. During this mini-festival participant will discover new activities and sign up to services that will benefit members.

Importantly, you can also make your voice heard by telling Groundwork NI what support your Men’s Shed needs. Groundwork NI offers support to over 120 Men’s Sheds across the region, supporting local Sheds and communities to build capacity and resilience. 

During the day there will be:
Music by the Colin Men’s Shed Ukulele Band
Traditional Woodturning by Green Woodwork Ireland
First Aid, Safety and Defib demo by Staff Training NI
Soft Archery with Community Sports Network
Chair based activity/ Take 5 with The Belfast Trust
Caricature drawing by Artist John McClaughry
 
One-to-one Sessions include:
Health Checks with NI Chest Heart Stroke
Health Checks with Action Cancer
Hearing Aid Service with RNID
Acupuncturist – Aisling from Forthspring
Oral Recording and Visual Story Collection with Groundwork
 
Groundwork experts will also be available to offer guidance on their products and services, including Men’s Sheds development, grants programmes, community projects and horticulture. 

Barry Mulholland, Groundwork NI’s Community and Well-Being Manager, said: "This is the start of what we hope will grow to a country-wide event and we are all very excited to see it come to fruition.

"Massive thanks to all those who are taking part, our funders the Public Health Agency and all the organisations who have donated their time. Finally of course, the Sheds themselves. Groundwork NI offer support to over 120 Sheds across the country and we want to hear from you, represent you and support you. The benefits of Sheds have been more than proven over the years, but there is still a grave need for the friendship, skills sharing and general well-being that these groups offer."

Shed Fest 2025 will take place on Wednesday the 19th November at 2 Royal Avenue between 10 and 12 noon.