In their most recent public survey one of the things that cropped up a number of times was hosting more activities for men. As a result Gatis Community Space decided to trial a project which runs between July and November that offers to provide a safe and welcoming space for all men to explore creativity, wellbeing and build new friendships.
The project is called man About Mondays and will offer, but is not limited to, the following activities:
(i) Games and sports such as Basketball, Kubb, Table Tennis and board games
(ii) Creative space, including written word, poetry, arts and crafts and creative problem solving
(iii) Skill sharing including supporting team to improve site, repair items, work with tools and create own mini projects
(iv) Volunteering opportunities
(v) Shared interest groups initiation - activities or hobbies in common we can start new splinter groups
"The aim of the project is to support men in our community who feel they may not fit into a community hub that can often appear is for families or children only" explained Maria Billington, Director of Gatis Community Space. "We want to showcase the gifts and talents of our community members and highlight that Gatis is for the whole community."
Sessions will run on the following Mondays between 10am and 4pm:
July 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th
August 5th, 12th, 19th
September 16th, 23rd, 30th
October 7th, 14th, 21st
November 4th, 11th
"The sessions are free to attend and refreshments will be provided. We will only ask if you could kindly fill in a survey on your first visit and one towards the end of the project" said Maria Billington. "We are a few weeks in and we have had a range of men join us to explore the potential for this project and we`ve come up with a bit of a schedule for the next few sessions". The sessions are: 10am - 12 noon - helping to improve the site with Adam ("Bill") Billington with tools 12 - 2pm - Art and Creative stuff with Bill 2pm - 4pm - Creative Writing and Poetry with Ian Henery "It`s all drop in with free refreshments" explained Maria "and you`re welcome to join us for part or the whole day. We will be encouraging groups to decide their own projects and work on them together. For example, some of our volunteers decided they wanted to upgrade the children`s mud kitchen using their woodworking skills and work on over two full sessions over two weeks." Gatis Community Space is to provide a safe and inclusive centre that puts community at the heart of its diverse projects. Gatis is all about empowering people to be their best versions and enabling change to a sustainable future. "This is an experimental project and we will be using the feedback and outcomes to shape future funding applications to build a much bigger project" said Maria Billington.
(Photo - members of Man About Mondays at Gatis Community Space)
