When you were young and harboured flighty dreams of becoming an astronaut and a vet (SuperVet, the movie of your life would be called), it's likely that, at some point, your mum did pat you on the head and say that you could 'do anything'. "You can do anything, [reader of a website about consumer electrical goods]," she said. "You can do anything."

Well, she was wrong, as a GEM Motoring Assist survey proved this month. According to their research, modern men are not the cow-impregnating, moon-visiting supermen we might expect: in fact, 54 per cent of those under 30 claim they can't put up a shelf. And when it comes to other DIY tasks, the news is equally as grim: just 22 per cent claim they are capable of wallpapering a wall.

"As," says Jason Orme, editor at Homebuilding & Renovating, "if." But with polls finding Britain's skillset is distinctly lacking, are men really becoming less confident about performing basic DIY?

"In terms of people being born into a family of DIYers, I think that people are losing the art," says Jason. "There is no question of that. Traditionally, DIY skills are passed down from father to son, and I do feel that just hasn't been the case for the past generation in many cases."

But for those who haven't been taught which way up to hold a hammer by their family, is there any hope? There is some hope. It's called 'the internet'.

"Effectively, anything like that that fathers used to do with their sons, they just don't do anymore," said Jason. "The usual replacement for that is the internet. The point really is that the knowledge and the experience might not be there, but the ability for them to do it definitely is. As is the information, if only they would realise it."

As with all these things, all it takes is a little confidence. Start off small - perhaps by replacing your traditional bulbs with GU10 LED lamps - then work your way up to painting, sanding, installing a dimmer switch and, eventually, building your own house from scratch using just logs and your callused hands.