Mackley offered to donate the timber when they heard about the great work Men in Sheds does to tackle wellbeing in retirees, helping to reduce loneliness and combat social isolation by bringing people together to make, repair and repurpose at their community workshop.

Men in Sheds is a local voluntary group dedicated to improving mental and physical health through hands-on wood-working projects.

Mackley Contract Manager, Mike Clegg said:

“We’re proud to be involved in the refurbishment of Worthing Pier. Donating the old boardwalk, no longer fit for purpose, was the perfect way to honour its heritage, promote the value of recycling and support local wellbeing initiatives. The wood not only gives Men in Sheds a useful material to work with, but it also provides something that is uniquely linked to the heritage of the town that will carry meaning through its life.”

The Mackley lorry carrying the wood was met by several members of the Mackley team, a representative from Adur and Worthing Councils and councillor Dom Ford, Worthing’s cabinet member for communities, culture and leisure. They were welcomed by Robin Chapman, manager of Worthing Men in Sheds, and several of the ‘shedders’ who regularly meet at the workshop to work together on projects.

Manager Robin Chapman said: 

“Men in Sheds was set up to provide a safe environment for people to keep active mentally and physically. As a voluntary organisation, we rely on support to keep it going. This delivery provides us with lots of material that we can use to achieve our aims of creating craft pieces that we can sell at fairs. We are largely self-sufficient, so we need to generate funds in order to keep the group going.”

Following a tour, there was a chance to view some before / after pieces of the pier that had been planed back to expose the beautiful red hue of the wood. There was also an opportunity to see how the group re-use wood to make oiled coasters, hand-carved pens and wood-turned bowls. The items are used to fundraise, supporting both themselves and to help other charities and communities locally.

Cllr Dominic Ford said:

“It is fantastic to see the practical use to which the wood from the pier is benefitting the community through Men in Sheds.”

This is a critical time for the retirees group, who have been given notice to leave their current premises at Northbrook College because of site redevelopment. The group are searching for a new premises and reaching out to anyone who may be able to help them with this.

Shaun Cooper, Mackley’s project manager for pier restoration, said:

“Supporting Men in Sheds was important to the whole team. Worthing is our home turf and we have been involved with the pier for many years, covering refurbishment projects and maintenance work, but also the emergency repair works in December 2024.

“It’s great to see how a collaboration like this can bring benefit to so many people. I hope they find new premises and are able to continue the good work.”

The initiatives reflect Mackley’s ongoing commitment to sustainability, reuse, and supporting the communities where they work.

The Council, designers and our site teams have been working effectively since first contact to get the pier safe and open to the public as soon as possible. We have received positive feedback from the Council and the public on the work that has been completed so far and the Council has done an excellent job of keeping everyone informed of the progress through a dedicated web page with updates and answers to some of the questions people have. to keep everyone regularly updated with progress to make sure everyone understands what has happened so far.

Despite some dips in the good weather we had been having, we have been able to get the works underway at Worthing Pier, and the team has made great progress so far. Six 15m steel piles have been driven into the seabed, either side of the pier, further strengthened by capping and bracing. Steel support beams and 16.5m steel trusses on top will take the weight of the pier and enable the removal of the damaged piles and subsequent replacement.

The team has been working all hours of the days, nights and weekends, whenever the tide and weather has allowed and will continue to do so until we can get the pier open again.

It is an excellent example of Mackley’s emergency call out response and skilful engineering. The progress also shows what good, long term relationships with our clients can achieve when working together, as one big team.

Big thanks to the guys on site who have done such a great job on this high profile project, Lawrence Rogers, Gavin Heater, Elliott Young, Kevin Heater, Kevin Rowland, Lee Cant, Dean Halton, Max Downie and Mark Heron.

We recently submitted Ventnor Eastern Esplanade Urgent Works for the Integration & Collaborative Working category at the Constructing Excellence SECBE Awards.

We are delighted to announce that our project has been shortlisted and we are a FINALIST!

This project is a true demonstration of collaboration between Isle of Wight Council, Coastal Partners, Environment Agency, Jacobs and BCP Council. We are immensely proud of the entire team, they have all been focused and fully committed right from the start. We’ve got everything crossed for the awards night!

“We were really pleased to be able to facilitate the reuse of timber from Bournemouth for the project at Ventnor. A great reuse of materials, creating a more sustainable solution for the IoW. Great work by the Mackley team, Steve Inman, Lee Harwood, Trevor Mossop to name a few and our Integrated Project Team Coastal Partners, Jacobs, BCP Council and of course the Isle of Wight Council. “

Paul Nutter, Contract Manager