With 50 members and running since 2013, Westport Men’s Shed is a hive of activity in the local community. Among their plethora of different projects and programmes, shed members take part in weekly yoga and meditation. Westport Men’s Shed chair, Brendan Duffy, says this benefits participants greatly.

“We got the yoga classes going three years ago, they run on a Friday morning and are well attended. The lady doing it has brought everybody on so much in the last three years. On Mondays we start off by doing a meditation class. There are great benefits associated with meditation, physical and psychological.”

Brendan explains that Westport Men’s Shed has a diverse group of members who, at one stage, were from five different countries. Subsequently, the shed thought up a very innovative way to help these members settle into their new communities.

“One day I said to the lads about the winter coming in and that there is a great tradition of card playing in houses locally. Some said they had never learned the card game 25. So I said, look, anybody interested come in tomorrow morning at 10am. Eighteen men turned up that never knew how to play 25 and it really took off. It is great and it is a skill people can use to integrate better into their new communities.”

Like many Men’s Sheds around the country, Westport gears a lot of projects towards helping the local community. However, their reach goes far beyond the local area. The members started refurbishing old bicycles, some were given to people in the locality and a shipment was also sent to an island off the coast of Ghana, where having a bike is similar to having a car.

The age of shed members in Westport ranges from 40 upwards and all get a lot out of being part of the group. Brendan highlights the vital importance of people having an outlet like a Men’s Shed for their energy and time.

Westport Men’s Shed is located at Tobar Hill, Westport, Co Mayo and is open Monday-Friday, 10am-4.30pm. New members are always welcome. Contact 087-695 2188 for more info.