MEMBERS of Alton Men’s Shed have taken on their first major project for charity by wading in to refurbish the Alton Cardiac Rehab charity shop on Market Street.

The building suffered serious flood damage in January when the water pipes in the flat above burst, sending water cascading through the ceiling and into the shop.

Cardiac Rehab Centre general manager Martin Lovell said: “We ended up with a river running through the ceiling and out the back of the shop, flooding our back office and sorting room.”

It was a disaster for the locally-based charity. The shop had to be closed for a week in January, only re-opening for a two-week window to enable shop manager Angie Avis to sell off the recoverable stock. Since then, however, the shop has been closed.

The back rooms have been cleared, repairs made in line with advice from loss adjusters, and heaters are running to allow what is an old, single-skinned building to dry out.

In the meantime, Alton Men’s Shed has stepped in at short notice to refurbish the front of the shop – a project agreed in January before the flooding, but which had been put on hold.

With the shop in limbo, the opportunity has been taken to crack on and, led by Peter Beckham, the six-man team has spent time, since the end of February, giving the place a facelift.

They have painted the interior to give a clean, fresh look and are busy relocating wall shelving, extending picture rails, and installing a new counter facility.

“The Men’s Shed team have been fantastic. They are doing a really good job and they have really helped us out,” said Mr Lovell.

In the meantime, Rehab is waiting for the go ahead from the loss adjusters to bring the storage rooms back into service so that the shop can begin to re-stock.

The sooner the shop can re-open the better for Mr Lovell, who is concerned about Cardiac Rehab losing its place in the competitive charity shop market. Alton currently has 11 charity shops trading in the town and Cardiac Rehab is suffering thousands of pounds in lost revenue.

As a result, Cardiac Rehab has put out an appeal for “good quality” donations, particularly clothes, but also bric-a-brac and other goods. Items can be taken to the shop between 10am and 4pm. Alternatively, goods can be left at the Cardiac Rehab Centre, behind the sports centre on Chawton Park Road, Alton.

n Alton Men’s Shed first met in February last year and currently has around 34 members.

Described as “not just a building”, the shed is a network of members who can learn new skills, work on projects and meet new people.

The aim is to provide a place where men can feel at home and pursue practical interests while sharing tools and resources. Activities typically include making or mending in wood but may also include metalworking, bike repair, gardening, electronics, boat renovation, and model engineering.

Reclamation, reuse and restoration projects feature strongly and the group is not short of ideas on how to utilise their skills.

With plans to build a ‘shed’ in the car park at All Saints’ church hall on Queen’s Road, the Alton group currently has half the funding it needs toward this £7,900 project. There are plans afoot also to take on the use of three rooms at the Alton Maltings Centre for use as a meeting place, for craft work and hobbies, and storage.

For more details, e-mail alton.mensshed@

gmail.com or call Peter Beckham on 01420 85419.