Rising costs may see men's mental health woodwork group close

A workshop group set up to help men talk about their mental health is facing closure as its landlord battles against rising overheads.

Steelers Heelers, based in the Steel Inn on Sheffield's Manor estate, provides a space for people to talk and take on woodworking projects.

Manor and Castle Development Trust (MCDT), which owns the venue, said it was reviewing the building's future.

A spokesperson said without funding the current "losses are unsustainable".

Jonathan Fairfax , who joined the Steelers Heelers group three years ago, said: "Men talking about stuff is a big taboo, people don't understand until they go through it themselves.

"It's a place to come, it's a relief. Without this I can see myself reverting to how I was."

Phil Davenport, who runs the group, said many people rely on the sessions but the group could not afford to take on the running of the building.

"We just come up here, we talk to each other and we listen," he said.

"It's not a special recipe, we're just here, we support each other."

In a statement MCDT said it was still looking at options for the future use of the Steel Inn.

They said the situation they were in was not unique, calling it a "perfect storm" faced by groups across the country.

"MCDT has been subsidising the tenants of the Steel Inn for many years and over the last few years the rising costs have become unsustainable," they said.

"Thirty years ago large amounts of public funding were available to buy and invest in community-owned buildings, now in need of repair and refurbishment , but the levels of capital investment are no longer available."

It said there had "never been a greater need" for projects to help "improve mental wellbeing of all ages" but that it needed to be "creative" in its work to support activities and may have to make "difficult decisions about individual buildings".

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