Kent Men in Sheds groups up for national award

Broadstairs Town Shed, one of the two groups nominated, was founded in 2014

Two community groups which help unemployed men back into work and improve mental health are up for a national award.

The Medway Men In Sheds group and Broadstairs Town Shed are both nominated in the UK Men's Sheds Awards.

They are both up for the prize in the health and wellbeing category, against a group from County Durham.

The ceremony takes place at the Houses of Parliament on Thursday afternoon.

Medway Men in Sheds has been nominated for its work in helping members' health and wellbeing

Based in the Sunlight Centre in Gillingham, the Medway Men in Sheds group has been funded by Medway Council since 2014.

It offers men who are not in full-time work the opportunity to develop and share the skills they have, get training and work together as a group.

Areas covered include music and audio engineering, gardening, woodworking, electronics, podcasting and poetry.

A project involving building guitars at the Medway shed

Broadstairs Town Shed won the title of Shed of the Year in the awards in 2022.

Opened in 2014, it became so popular it had to move into bigger premises on the Oakwood industrial estate.

It specialises in wood and metalwork skills and runs sessions three times a week.