South Scotland MSP Colin Smyth was pleased to meet with members of Dalbeattie Men’s Shed at the Scottish Parliament at the recent Age Scotland awards ceremony.

The ceremony and reception took place on November 15 and the hand carved wooden awards themselves were made by the Dalbeattie group in the Men’s Shed. Colin presented one of the awards on the night to Age Scotland’s Volunteer of the Year.

Colin Smyth said: “It was once again great to see Geoff and the other members of Dalbeattie Men’s Shed who were able to attend the event in the Scottish Parliament.

“The Age Scotland reception celebrated the contribution of older people and groups from across Scotland, including the winners of Age Scotland’s annual awards, and allowed MSPs to hear about the charity’s latest research which outlines the political priorities of people over the age of 50 and how they feel about growing older in Scotland.

“It was also fantastic to see the awards themselves, which were made by members of the group from Dalbeattie.

“Their hard work was hugely appreciated by the winners and the quality was first rate.

“During the summer I was able to visit Dalbeattie Men’s Shed, which is a brilliant example of the enormous role older people take in our local communities, not to mention the contribution Men’s Sheds make to the mental and physical wellbeing of the men who go along.

“One of the key roles of my proposed Older People’s Commissioner for Scotland is about challenging the negative stereotypes of ageing and celebrating the immense positive contribution of those in later life.

“Too often they are portrayed in a negative way and talked about as a burden to society but from the workplace to our communities, they make such a vital contribution.

“A commissioner will also have an important role in helping tackle issues that the members of the Dalbeattie Men’s Shed were keen to highlight to me, such as raising awareness of prostate cancer to the shocking level of suicide among men, often older men in isolated rural communities. I believe that the issues facing older people aren’t high enough up the political agenda and I want to change that.”