The history of our 'Shed' goes back over 15 years and started in Reddish Vale Country Park.  One of our founder members, Tim (featured in the video above) was volunteering there, after retirement, when staff from SusTrans (the active sustainable travel charity) suggested to him the idea of setting up a bicycle repair group: a Reddish Vale 'Men in Sheds'.

 

Initially we shared a small shipping container with the local gardeners until we outgrew the premises (and their patience!)  We have moved twice since then, within Reddish, as we expanded.  Increased awareness of our group by local residents resulted in more bike donations.  As our output increased this enabled us to strengthen our connections with community groups and schools who could benefit from donations of refurbished bicycles from our growing stock. These donations have increased further thanks to our new initiative 'The Bike Giveaway'.  Read more about that here 'Need a bike?'

 

You can purchase bikes directly from us or via the ‘Re:Dish’ charity shop for very modest prices.  As a not-for-profit group we don't want anyone to be put off cycling through financial hardship.  'Re:Dish' charity shop has been vital to our success as our only physical ‘shop front’.  We are pleased to share some of the sale profits with them.  We also service bikes.  RMIS has paid for many of our members to attend bicycle maintenance courses run as a collaboration between Transport for Greater Manchester (funders) and CeraCycloan in Stockport.  The courses ranged from basic maintenance to bespoke specialist training so that our members can tackle most refurbishment challenges now.

 

Apart from the modest sales income, external funding keeps us going.  From the National Lottery to smaller local businesses and Stockport Council grants we are grateful for every penny.  This funding has helped us flourish, enabled us to publicise our group more widely (flyers, newspaper articles, social media) and thereby increase bike donations, member numbers and the ability to secure funding.  Equally important are word-of-mouth recommendations.  We have close ties with our local Councillors (James Frizzell, Green Party, is featured in the video above) which has raised our profile throughout the wider Stockport area.  People come to us either as 'self-referrals' or via social prescribers such as Community Mental Health Teams, Skills and Employment offices and Community Engagement initiatives. 

 

Despite a slight name change (dropping the 'Vale') to reflect our wider Reddish connections we remain true to the original idea proposed to Tim all those years ago.  Our reach now extends beyond Stockport into Greater Manchester.  We are members of the UK Men’s Sheds Association, part of a global network of about 2000 sheds. The idea originated from Australia in 1999. We share their aim to improve wellbeing, reduce loneliness and combat social isolation amongst our valued members.

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Here are examples of some of the recognition we have received from Stockport Homes, Andrew Gwynne MP and Vernon Building Society's 'Community Stars' scheme.​​