Men on a Mission: How life can be so much more

Former boxer Tony Bellew stars alongside Shedders from across the country to inspire positive conversation

Men’s Sheds across the UK show how positive social outlets can change lives for the better. They improve physical and mental wellbeing and are linked with increased moderation of alcohol consumption among older men as they navigate life changes including retirement and changing social and family relationships.

DRINKiQ aims to inspire consumers to take action – encouraging them to drink better, not more, and to create a lasting positive shift in their attitudes toward alcohol. Through our partnership with the UK Men’s Sheds Association (UKMSA), DRINKiQ is building awareness around responsible alcohol consumption and wellbeing for older men.

Social connection. Activity. Creativity. A life lived to the fullest. Tens of thousands of men are showing that enjoying and extending their golden years can all start in a shed. And former boxer Tony Bellew has joined these amazing Shedders to call for men to ‘make being well a mission’ as part of a campaign by DRINKiQ and the UKMSA.

The Men on a Mission campaign champions a positive approach to physical and mental wellbeing among men – showing how active, social outlets can change lives – while addressing patterns of unhealthy alcohol consumption in men from their fifties onwards.

What’s going on with older men?

Having more time to ourselves is often seen as rare and precious. For some people, that is a distant dream in the futures. But life can move fast. Children fly the nest. Work winds down. Many people might experience loss. Divorces. Illnesses. And that sense of mission might dwindle.

For many men across Britain, as they get older, time once spent active and together can become time spent a little more idly. On the couch. Or at the pub. And for many, one or two drinks one or two days a week can become three or four drinks three or four days a week. And that can add up.

Older men, according to public health data, are more likely to drink more alcohol, and alcohol more frequently, than other age groups, whether male or female. Indeed, while it may not be seen to be extreme by society, some 32% of men aged 65-74 drink to ‘increasing risk’ levels, defined as more than 14 and up to 50 units per week, with 29% of men aged 55-64 consuming to that level too.

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And what characterises the alcohol consumption patterns of those cohorts of older men is higher frequency of drinking in terms of occasions per week, compared to others. ¹

But life can be so much more, as highlighted by DRINKiQ’s collaboration with the UKMSA.

The UK Men’s Sheds Association supports over 1,000 Men’s Sheds across the country. Connection, conversation and creation – that’s what joining a Men’s Shed is all about.

Find your local Men’s Shed here

Men’s Sheds encourage people to come together to make, repair and repurpose, supporting projects in their local communities – improving wellbeing, reducing loneliness and combatting social isolation in the process. And some Shedders, as Shed members are called, have reported how involvement has helped change their alcohol consumption. ²

‘Grab life by the scruff of the neck’

DRINKiQ campaign ambassador Tony Bellew has been keen to spread the message, having seen up close the positive impact of Sheds at Bootle Tool Shed in Liverpool.

Tony has leant his voice to the Men on a Mission campaign, starring alongside men from across the country, including those whose involvement in their local sheds has helped them improve their mental and physical wellbeing, and even reassess their own relationships with alcohol. The campaign hopes to inspire men to consider embracing social outlets, like Sheds.

This is particularly important when new data from UKMSA suggests just one in five men (22%) aged 50-75 report ‘hardly ever or never’ thinking about their mental wellbeing – far more than women of the same age (14%), and well over double the proportion for younger men (9% of 18-49s). ³