A talented music producer built his own studio desk from reclaimed wood at a Men’s Shed project run by our Trust in collaboration with Rethink.
Chewe (pronounced Che) spent seven months working on the stunning black desk at the Men’s Shed, run at Weavers Croft, alongside Alec Hole from our Assertive Outreach Team (AOT).
Alec, who shares a love of creating music, pitched the idea to Chewe as a project to get him out of the house at a time when he was struggling with his mental health.
“I wasn’t getting out much,” says the 34-year-old. “Being here is a way of getting out. I could meet people. It’s better here than staring at four walls of my bedroom, my living room.
“We made it out of scrap wood. It took six of us to chisel the old vinyl off the tabletop. We had to do a lot of work removing nails, and sanding down. But it was worth it.”
The desk is now in his room, loaded with speakers, screen, keyboard, synths and samplers and boxes of electronics he uses to produce tunes on platforms including BeatStars and Spotify.
But it started life as raw materials in an outside woodstore, sitting opposite the Men’s Shed’s cozy workshop – a former stable with walls lined with well-worn tools.
On a sun-dappled spring afternoon the store has the remains of an old wooden bed frame piled up against the other offcuts, fenceposts and unidentifiable timber. Nettles and dandelions have also made it their home.
“I scavenge the wood,” says Rethink manager Sue Tomlinson. “I saw people throwing that bed away and said ‘No, no, no! I’ll have that! I bring everything I can find back for people to use.
“We’ve been slowly developing this area of the site for eight years. Back then it was knee-high grass and weeds. We’ve got about 20 groups running here now, and 35 in the Stroud area as a whole.”
Neat grass and picnic benches give way to planters, allotments and a greenhouse. A pond was a recent addition, tucked away at the far end of the site, with a busy hive – swarming with bees – a few yards away. The pond was built from scratch by another Men’s Shed member working with the AOT.
“He built that entirely on his own,” says Alec sitting on one of the benches near an outside wood burner, which itself looks like it was welded together from spare parts in the workshop. An old barrel with a chimney pipe, perhaps.
“Sometimes we get two people, sometimes six or seven. What’s important is to have the opportunity. You can’t rely on people turning up – they may be struggling with their mental health – but having the facility here is really important.”
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Our AOT helps improve the health and social function of people with serious mental illness, using a trauma-informed approach to care. Rethink Mental Illness is a national charity providing practical help for people severely affected by mental illness.
