Forres Men's Shed offered free Christmas cheer to the lonely

A CHARITY aimed at improving health and wellbeing held a free food and chat event at St Leonard's Church Hall.

Forres Men's Shed (FMS) put an open invite out to the community over two days to offer some Christmas cheer to people who might not otherwise have had any.

FMS secretary David Parker confirmed attendees enjoyed coffee, tea, home-made hot soup and companionship.

He said: "Not everybody has the joys of Christmas. A lot of people are left alone when families that visited on Christmas Day or Boxing Day go home. This is when depression can set in or exasperate a feeling of loneliness.

"We wanted to give the lonely and needy somewhere to go and meet people."

Scottish Men's Shed Association executive officer Jason Schroeder inspired the local event by talking about the post-Christmas period which can be distressing. He suggested FMS organise soup and coffee with Reverand Donald Prentice of St Leonard's Church.

David said: "We hoped to reach men and women in the area and offered a range of soups made by volunteers. We aimed to help attendees overcome loneliness and make them aware of the wide range of groups available in the area."

Forres Men's Shed is open Monday to Friday from 10am-1pm at Waterford Recycling Centre. It is a place for attendees to work and relax, pursue hobbies, share skills, have a cuppa and a chat, get out of the house for a while and get practical help with projects.

"Forres Men’s Shed had a busy 2019 with two pop-up shops at Forres Tesco, soup and coffee events, a coffee morning at St Leonard's Church, a display table at The Big Lunch at Forres Town Hall, display tables at Flu clinics, car boot sales around Moray and a Cash for Kids car in September. "In the New Year we will be at the Forres Theme Day and host an Easter coffee with conversation and soup event using the money from a #YouChoose4 award."

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