Long Sutton’s Men’s Shed is looking to work to help young people in the area through both mental health initiatives and teaching skills to some from disadvantaged families.
Last Friday group members met up with three fathers who lost their daughters to suicide and have walked across the country from Cumbria to Norfolk to raise awareness and money for Papyrus – a charity set up for the prevention of young suicide.
And as well as working in that area, the Men’s Shed is looking to work with local youngsters to teach them skills that it’s hoped may mean they don’t turn to anti-social behaviour.
Coun Jack Tyrrell told a meeting of the Performance Monitoring Panel last week: “We’re working with the police and hopefully some of the Peele School (Long Sutton Academy) and looking to take some of the, I wouldn’t call them bad boys, and teach them to lay bricks or things like that.
“It’s about changing a child who is 11 years old before they get into trouble. I think we all have a duty, not just the police, to help our own community.”
Meanwhile Men’s Shed members are also embarking on an ambitious expansion project supported by SHINE, the Lincoln-based Mental Health Network which has a large suicide prevention project supported by Lincolnshire County Council, the NHS Lincolnshire CCG and the SHINE Network.
Members including Frank Heinrich-Tiller, the Shed’s suicide prevention project co-ordinator and funding officer, welfare officer Jim Stalley and a good number of other Shedders, including 95-year-old Eric Seekings, met up with the 3 Dads Walking – Andy Airey, Mike Palmer and Tim Owen – to speak about their initiatives and show support as they came through Sutton Bridge.
A Men’s Shed spokesman said: “We wanted to cheer them on and show our support for suicide prevention and encourage people to make a donation to this worthy cause.”
