A space in Ipswich where men can make new friends while using their DIY skills to build new things is to unveil an expansion.

A “merry band” of members of the ActivGardens men’s shed have been spending the past year building an extension to their space at CRESS Pavilion, in Halifax Road.

Their new-look facility, which is part of ActivGardens’ People’s Community Garden, will be unveiled at an event on Friday, March 22, between 10am and 12.30pm.

The extension has been funded through Suffolk Community Foundation by Fonnereau Road Health Foundation, Pound Gates and Sevatas and private donors.

The project runs every Friday morning and the new facilities will enable older people who need support or may be in the early stages of dementia to keep active in a social way.

The project is seen as vital to tackling loneliness and isolation in old age, with research suggesting the number of older men living alone is set to increase by 65%in the next 15 years.