Looe Shedders have until Easter to find a new home

Somewhere in or around Looe there could be an empty barn, a spare garage or a corner of a field doing nothing much at all. To one group of volunteers, that space could decide whether they carry on or shut the workshop door for good.

Out of the workshop by Easter

Looe Shedders, a volunteer-run Charitable Incorporated Organisation, has to leave its current borrowed workshop by Easter next year. Hopes had been pinned on a potential new site, but that option is no longer viable.

Without somewhere else to go, the group says, there would be no more community projects, no more workshop or shared skills, and no more of the support it gives to men’s health and wellbeing. In short, no more Looe Shedders.

So the Shedders are now appealing directly to landowners, farmers, businesses, property owners and the wider community for help.

What the Shedders are looking for

The group needs either a piece of land to build on, or a large building that can be converted into a workshop. A garage, shed, barn, workshop, agricultural building or other suitable structure could all work.

Ideally, the site needs to be:

• At least 50 square metres
• Within five miles of Looe
• Accessible by vehicle
• Available at a peppercorn rent

More than tools and timber

The Shed brings people together to share skills, make friends and enjoy the sense of purpose that comes from doing something worthwhile.

Its volunteers make, repair and recycle, and put their practical skills into projects for schools, charities and community organisations across Looe and the surrounding area. Alongside the making, the Shed offers friendship, companionship and a supportive place that helps the health and wellbeing of the men and women who come through the door.

Some of that work is shown on the group’s community projects pages.

“We are now running out of time”

Chris Roy, Chairman of Looe Shedders CIO, said: “We don’t just need a workshop. We need a home from which we can continue helping our community.

“We are now running out of time. Unless we can find somewhere suitable before we have to leave our present workshop, everything our volunteers have built up, the friendships, shared skills and the community projects, all are at risk.”

How to help

The Shedders are asking local people, businesses and organisations to share the appeal as widely as they can. Anyone with land or a building that might fit the bill, or who knows somebody who does, can contact the group at [email protected].

Chris thinks the answer may not come from a landowner at all. “Somebody in or around Looe may have a piece of land, an unused barn, workshop, garage or other building that could give Looe Shedders a future and even if they don’t have somewhere themselves, they may know someone who does. That introduction could make all the difference.”

📷Looe Shedders at work on one of the many community projects that could be at risk if the volunteer organisation cannot find a new home before Easter.