From A Scrap Of Paper To Duckingham Palace

Before Lockdown, one morning a man walked into the Llanelli Station Men’s Shed holding a scrap of paper. His name was and is David Bannister, affectionately known as the David Attenborough of Parc Howard. He was the Head of Carmarthenshire Parklands. He came in search of the Men’s Shed skills to build a new home for their ducks.

Parc Howard has always had ducks in their pond but the destruction by local foxes had led to their demise. They had managed to find another collection of ducks. The present housing for these ducks would be inadequate.

David had drawn what they wanted as the basic design and its measurements but he was willing to leave the end result to the imagination of the Men’s shed except for one thing. The men had to build a comfortable cage to protect the ducks from the foxes.

Parc Howard had planned to hold seven events to raise money for the cleaning of the pond and the payment for the duck house. Unfortunately, Lockdown came into play and all these events had to be cancelled. So, while the duck house was being created, the committee members bravely waded in, drained the pond and cleaned it, ready and waiting for the new duck house. They also had some extra luck about the ducks.

Megan Williams, a massive animal lover, was driving along a main road in Wales and discovered to her horror that some ducklings had been left on this road, one supposes, to be left to die. They reckoned without Megan. She collected the ducks and put them in the boot of her car. She took them home. She rang around all the local animal sanctuaries and charities but had no joy. It was not for want of trying to help but they were not able to bring up the ducklings. One of the charities suggested that she keep them in her bathroom hand basin. This she actually did and as they grew bigger they were moved to her bath. Luckily, she had a separate shower. She kept making inquiries and discovered finally that Parc Howard needed ducks for their pond.

From this first visit with the scrap of paper, the lack of funding for development and no ducks, Parc Howard was gradually coming back to a normality where, with the help of the Men’s Shed, they could have the duck pond as a reality. The pond was last cleaned in 1997 so the valiant committee had a massive work- load in restoring the pond to its former glory.

This was the first time that Parc Howard had been involved with the Men’s Shed. Obviously they were aware of the expertise of these local men but they never imagined what the outcome would be. They never dreamed that their simple duck house request would be turned into something much grander. The men wanted to make sure that it would be in keeping with their surroundings and that Parc Howard would be happy with the result. The men worked tirelessly in developing the house itself and then adding to it to turn it into a thing of beauty. Hence, that is how Duckingham Palace was born.

The Llanelli Station Men’s Shed has become very well- known over the past year and a half as customers have been coming in and finding out what the men are capable of doing. They have built a giant high- heeled shoe, a huge wishing well and several benches for Llanelli Pride. They have since made a great success of selling their benches, different types of planters, furniture repair, making desks, work benches, wishing wells to name a few.

It is a very friendly place where all men are welcome. They even have a women’s day once a fortnight and they had planned to have a carer’s day once a week to help men with disabilities although this had to be put on hold due to Lockdown. At this moment in time, that is all they are able to do for local men and women as they do not have the space. They have been so successful that they need to expand once more and are desperately seeking premises with, they hope, the help of the local councils.

They are deeply concerned about Men’s Health in general as the male suicide rate in England and Wales hit its worst level in 20 years in 2019. There were 5691 registered suicides of which three quarters were men, 4303 compared to 1388 women.

The Office for National Statistics said:

“Higher rates of suicide among middle-aged men in recent years might be because this group is more likely to be affected by economic adversity, alcoholism and isolation. It could also be that this group is less inclined to seek help.”

This is why all those years ago, Australia started the Men’s Shed project which has become now an international institution. For men who find it difficult to seek help, the Men’s Shed is perfectly placed to help. Men can come in to, ostensibly, learn new skills but at the same time they are no longer feeling isolated and they can learn to cope with alcoholism or job losses etc. The Llanelli Men’s Shed is such a welcoming and open-hearted place but at the moment it is too small to develop the ethos of supporting men with mental health problems. This is something these local men wish to do, to be a support network for other men and this will happen when the new premises are found.

To return to Duckingham Palace!

Parc Howard had planned to hold seven events to raise money for the cleaning of the pond and the payment for the duck house. Unfortunately Lockdown came into play and everything had to be cancelled

On Saturday the 22nd of August, The Men’s shed delivered Duckingham Palace and put it in place on the island in the middle of the pond.

Monday the 24th of August was the day of the grand opening of the Palace, the new pond and the arrival of the ducks, duly retrieved from Megan Williams’ bathtub. It was splendid watching the ducks being placed in the beautiful new home and they hope that the cage can be removed from the house once the ducks are used to the pond.

The Mayor of Llanelli Town Council, Chris Griffiths, the Deputy Mayor and his wife, Terry and Susan Davies were present and Nia Griffith, our MP, was there to cut the ribbon. Philip Thomas, the chairman of the Parc Howard Committee gave a welcoming speech and then added a very moving moment.

A local man, Mr. John Lloyd had very sadly , lost his wife, Carol, last year. In her will she had left one thousand pounds for a community project and Mr. Lloyd donated this money to cover the costs of Duckingham Palace. Parc Howard is extremely grateful. A plaque will be put on the entrance gate in her memory.

It was a hugely successful day and Llanelli Standard was there to record the event. There is a full display of photos covering the event on the next page.

Parc Howard had a great idea after this. The birds that can protect the ducks from the foxes are geese. So the Men’s Shed has been asked to build a Goose House, a possible name to be Gander Hall for the duck security guards.

The men in the Llanelli Station Men’s Shed were very excited to be able to be involved in this project. May the partnership with Parc Howard continue!