How quickly all our lives have changed. Last month Heatons’ Men in Sheds (HMIS) were working with local children, making nesting boxes for birds and roosting boxes for bats. Now we are all gripped by the horrible Coronavirus apparently originating from bats in China. We can, it seems, rest easy that local bats are completely safe.
On a happier note we have heard from a couple of our bird box builders to say that birds have moved in. One young man wrote (actually it was his mum who wrote) to say “I wanted to let you know that we put up the bird box that our son made at the start of ‘lockdown’ and this week a family of blue tits have made it their home. It has been a source of such joy for the children and we have loved watching the birds comes and go from the garden.”
Lockdown has meant no more meetings in the shed for the time being, however, one of the main aims of HMIS is to tackle social isolation in older men in the community. A plan was hatched involving virtual meetings using Zoom software. HMIS is now meeting, virtually, twice a week via the internet. Members are chatting with each other, making sure each member is OK and generally keeping their spirits up. There have been a couple of quizzes and an online picture show to keep participants amused.
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At least one of the shed members was a bit confused by some of the terms mentioned above “When I was growing up Corona was fizzy pop and Zoom was a rocket shaped ice lolly on a stick” he said.
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Times have changed but now it is more important than ever that everyone looks out for each other and makes the extra effort to stay connected.
If you would like to find out more about HMIS, or fancy participating in one of the virtual meetings held for about an hour on Mondays at 1pm and Thursdays at 7pm. Contact us via the Contact Us button above. If you’re not familiar with virtual meetings or are a bit unsure how to work the technology don’t worry the shed can help.