A community project that helps bring isolated men together to combat loneliness has been given a funding boost of £955.

The money has been awarded to the Men’s Shed in Wareham, where people come together to take part in practical skills and activities, by the Royal Voluntary Service and the Asda Foundation.

With funding from the Asda Foundation, Royal Voluntary Service established the Sheds Grant Fund in 2015 to provide small scale funding to Sheds looking for support with set up or early stage development costs.

Over £84,000 of funding has been awarded to 100 Shed projects since the grant’s launch in 2015.

There are over 460 Men’s Sheds set up across the country, providing opportunities for over 11,000 members to share tools, resources and expertise to make new things, learn new skills and make friends.

Activities in Sheds vary greatly, but you can usually find woodworking, metalworking, repairing and restoring, electronics, model buildings or even car building in a typical Shed.

Sheds typically attract older men, but many have younger members and women too.

Chris Gates, the Chief Shedder at Wareham, said: “I'm absolutely delighted by the progress we've made and am very grateful to Royal Voluntary Service, Asda Foundation and the other donors who have made it possible.

“The vision was born out of a desire to create a community of guys who would be able to grow in friendship together, whilst being a force for good in our local community.

“It's a genuine thrill to attend one of the twice weekly shed sessions, and to see the buzz, the camaraderie, the sharing of skills, and the impressive things that are produced at the end of each session.

Abigail Hurrell, Sheds Project Manager at Royal Voluntary Service, said: “We meet some wonderful teams behind successful Sheds across the UK and can see the positive difference they make to people’s lives and to local communities.

“We congratulate the latest round of Sheds Grant Fund winners and look forward to seeing their projects flourish.”

Annmarie Rocks, Senior Coordinator at the Asda Foundation, said: “We see the Sheds programme as making a real difference at a local level and are proud to have supported this initiative to tackle loneliness and isolation, which is truly bringing people together.”

To find out more about the Sheds Grant Fund, please visit: http://www.royalvoluntaryservice.org.uk/sheds and follow @rvssheds on Twitter for regular updates.