Gone Sheddin'

Paul Whitehouse and Bob Mortimer are great role models for men's mental health

It was probably one of the first articles which decisively turned me away from the Guardian.

Back in 2011, the Australian Men’s Shed Association had been operating for four years, and similar projects were opening up in the UK and Ireland. Men’s Sheds are community spaces, with the idea being that men go along to help out with charitable construction works, whilst at the same time meeting people and making connections; helping to reduce loneliness and isolation, particularly in older men who may feel that they lack purpose, routine and friendship post-retirement.

It is a wonderful, public-spirited initiative, which has done wonders for men’s health; attendees report reduced depression and anxiety, and the volunteering hours benefit the local community.

Given all this, I found it incredibly disappointing to see Lucy Mangan in the Guardian spit bile over the whole idea at the time. Framing the whole thing as nothing more than a salvo in a war between men and women, Mangan wondered “why it was decreed that men needed sheds more than women”. Of course, nobody ever decreed this. This isn’t an either/or, it’s perfectly possible to support the existence of spaces for both sexes, and women and men don’t exist in opposition or isolation. Men are three times more likely to commit suicide than women; the men we are losing are fathers, husbands, brothers, sons, friends. Whether men needed sheds more than women is irrelevant; what matters is that some men needed them at all.

Here’s the Guardian, I thought, a publication which thinks itself compassionate, supposedly keen on the importance of mental health, ready to pour scorn all over a genuinely positive, charitable endeavour because it’s centred on men’s mental health. For personal reasons, men’s mental health is hugely important to me. Re-reading Mangan’s piece today, I think about two men I’ve been close to; one is still with us, thank goodness, the other, tragically, is not. I was appalled then at how dismissive the article was, how Mangan could be so spiteful, and I feel the same now.

This article came to mind of late, as I have recently - and not before time - been introduced to Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing. For the uninitiated, Gone Fishing is a BBC programme which follows comedians Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse on their angling trips around the UK, and it is wonderfully soothing viewing. The cameras pick out Britain’s landscapes and wildlife at their most resplendent. From the Norfolk Broads, to North Uist, to the River Wye, we are invited to drink in beautiful shots of lush, green countryside.

But whilst it is a programme which celebrates Britain’s rivers and its nature, it is also a story about the value of friendships, and how men interact. The show had its genesis in near-tragedy. Experiencing a chest pain which he assumed was an infection, Mortimer instead found he needed an emergency heart bypass. The operation was successful, but Mortimer then locked himself away at home for months, anxious and confused.

Paul Whitehouse, a good friend of Mortimer’s, and with his own history of heart problems, had some idea of what Bob was going through. The pair had long discussed going fishing, but had never got around to it. With Mortimer isolating himself, Whitehouse decided that now was that time to make it happen. Initial offers were rebuffed, but Whitehouse was persistent. He enlisted the help of Mortimer’s partner, and kept calling until Bob ran out of excuses. Mortimer now admits that the trip gave him the kick up the arse he needed, the impetus he needed to get off the sofa. Whilst fishing was Whitehouse’s pretext, the real agenda was to take Mortimer out of the house, to pull him back into the world.

Somewhere along the way, there was a realisation that these trips would make for compelling television; Whitehouse notes, with dark humour, that one of them may die on the bankside, which would be a real feather in the BBC’s cap. It was a brilliant commissioning decision; the result is a warm, touching, uplifting programme where two old friends amiably chat on a riverside. It is great news that a fifth series is due to be shown later this year.

It is interesting to watch the dynamic when the pair get to talking about difficult topics. Particularly in the early series, the dialogue plays out in a rather typically male way. Weighty subjects are approached at an angle instead of head-on; jokes are deployed to puncture any seriousness; heavy conversations are backed away from as soon as they are able.

Mortimer’s doctor pays a visit in the third series and talks about this very male propensity. Men are, as a rule, not good at discussing their emotions, and this tendency to bottle things up can prove damaging. But there are solutions: men may not willingly open up in every day conversation, but we tend to be more responsive in “experiential” settings, such as football, or the pub, or fishing. Getting together around an activity or a project can provide opportunities for men to express themselves. Paul Whitehouse understood this when trying to get Bob Mortimer out of his isolation; he didn’t ask Bob for a chat, he invited him to share in a hobby of his.

And this is where Men’s Sheds come in. Providing a space, and a project, fostering social connections. Today, there are over 600 Sheds in the UK, with 13,000 “Shedders” benefitting from regular social interaction and learning new skills.

Whitehouse and Mortimer’s angling trips perform a similar function to what Shedders are doing up and down the country every week. One of the very many reasons Gone Fishing is a brilliant programme is it shows us a really positive model of how men can support one another through some very difficult times. Perhaps without realising it, Mortimer and Whitehouse are role models for male mental health. Gone Fishing shows us the beauty of the British countryside, and it shows us Bob and Paul larking about, but it also reminds us of the importance of friendship.

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The UK Men’s Sheds Association website is here.

The Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) also do great work in helping those who are struggling, their website is here.