Our Story

A brief history

When four Ripon residents got together in the Spring of 2019, they never dreamed of what they were starting. Initial discussions amongst the four centred around providing somewhere for men to meet in a social environment.

At that time “Men’s Sheds”, the idea of which originates in Australia in the 1980’s, were popping up around the UK, with a few in local towns. After a few conversations the four held their first formal meeting on the 8th May 2019 to discuss the possibility of setting up a Men’s Shed in Ripon, and at that meeting it was agreed to set up the Ripon Men’s Shed (RMS) charity, with each of the four founding trustees given their roles.

First question the trustees had – “Did Ripon want a Men’s Shed?”. So, it was decided to host an open day on the 25th June 2019 – in the afternoon and evening. The Open Day was publicised around Ripon and it worked – the room was full of interested men (and women) both afternoon and evening session.

Then the hard work began – the Open Day had confirmed a need for a Men’s Shed in Ripon. The trustees started their search for suitable premises and formally setting up the “Ripon Men’s Shed CIO” as a charity.

Many months were spent looking at various potential premises – Spa pavilion, Quarry Moor, Ripon Museum, car wash Bondgate, various dilapidated buildings around Ripon, Hugh Ripley Hall, business units on Dallamires Lane etc.  But none of these premises were available at an affordable rent or were unsuitable for one reason or another.  In Autumn 2019, out of the blue, RMS was contacted by the New Life Church on Water Skellgate, Ripon, to say that they had a space available to rent and we could look at it to see if it could be used as a workshop.  The space comprised 5 small rooms on an upper floor, so it presented an immediate challenge, but amongst those seen so far, it was definitely the one with most potential. RMS and New Life Church agreed the terms of a lease and plans were drawn up to convert the 5 rooms into a workshop.  

However, no sooner had all this been agreed, when, Covid reared its head and put a halt to any work starting.  New Life Church recognised the financial difficulty we faced with no membership fees coming in and kindly waived the monthly lease payments until such time as we could get up and running. So, working within the government guidelines, a small group of members formed a working “bubble” and, working in their spare time and when they could get together, set about transforming the rooms into what would become our very own self-contained workshop, complete with toilet and small kitchen area.  

Eventually, in August 2021, we opened the doors for our very first session, with 8 guys turning up on the first morning, and a plan to meet every other Tuesday morning. That quickly went to every week, then, as word of what we were about started to spread around the City, more guys came along to join and we went to Tuesday and Friday sessions, followed a year later by adding in a Wednesday session too.  

By 2023 it was clear the success of the Shed was presenting its own challenges as, despite us not actively recruiting members, we were still growing. And that meant we needed more space! In 2024 New Life Church offered us the chance to purchase the Church and after protracted negotiations, and a flurry of fund raising, we became the new owners of the building in July 2025. Again, we were faced with a major conversion which now, in October 2026, is well underway. We are hoping to be in our new workshop and have our Arts & Crafts room operational by Spring of 2027.

What will we be up to in another 5 years? Who knows! But it’s sure to be an interesting time for the 40 members who now attend each month and those we have yet to welcome.