Out of interest, I've just checked on the 'Men In Sheds' website to see how many Sheds there are within a 25 mile radius of my location, and discovered that there are five. As I said earlier, one is close to where I live, on the outskirts of West Hull, another is at Scunthorpe - quite a sizable town, but I was a bit surprised to see where the other three are located. One is at a small village well away from centres of population, called Home on Spalding Moor. Another is on the coast at a small seaside town called Withernsea, and a fifth is at another small seaside town - Bridlington. In terms of catchment areas for membership, if a radius of say 15 miles is drawn, at both Withernsea and Bridlington, half of that area is in the North Sea, and the radius inland has more cabbages than chimney pots. (Holme on Spalding Moor doesn't have any sea - just double the number of cabbages and a dearth of chimney pots).
But that said, all of those areas have sufficiently enterprising people who are prepared to take on the responsibility and initiative to start and run a shed, with all that entails, and to promote it to attract members. There's no doubt that it all of those locations there will be many who would/could benefit from membership, but whilst many may seek companionship, not everyone is 'clubbable' or willing to get fully involved.
In looking at the 'Men in Sheds' website, I noted that at present in the UK, there are:
471 established sheds,
A further 132 sheds in development,
An estimated 11,300 ‘Shedders’ benefiting directly from membership.
The site has helpful resources, which underline how involved it all becomes - as with any hobby organisation.
*Templates and examples for managing your Shed’s memberships, including disclaimers for new and renewing members and an example Code of Conduct.
*Information, advice and example documents for if or when your Shed decides to become a charity or other type of organisation.
*Information, templates and best practice examples for your Shed’s Management Committee or Trustees in governing the Shed’s finances and procedures.
*Help in understanding the various insurance products relevant to your Shed and tips to help your Shed become more insurable.
*Income generation and fundraising: Tips and advice on earning income and saving costs to keep your Shed sustainable and some helpful guidance on applying for funding.
*Tips and templates for promoting your Shed to attract new members and support from individuals and businesses in your local community.
*Tips and templates to help you measure the success of your Shed and set you up with valuable information that can help you to secure funding and support.
*Guides and templates giving you everything you need to create robust data protection procedures in line with best practice and compliant with the General Data Protection Regulations.
Lots of people will have held responsible positions during their working lives gaining experience and skills in many of the areas outlined above, but whether or not in their later years - perhaps with failing health - they are willing and able to take on those quite onerous duties and responsibilities is quite another matter.
Hats of to those that do and every success to the Men in Sheds initiative.
https://menssheds.org.uk/
https://menssheds.org.uk/shed-support/resource-library/
There was a time when Adult Education classes in the UK thrived and had reasonable fees, but the withdrawal of funding over the last 20 or so years and the re-setting of priorities has resulted in fees increasing steeply, so numbers of applicants decline, then the courses don't attract sufficient numbers, so don't run. Courses in plumbing, bricklaying, carpentry, model engineering, have all fallen by the wayside unless they are vocational rather than recreational courses.
I'm not making a political point there, but maybe 'Men in Sheds' is filling that vacuum? All to the good if so.