About

The modem Men’s Shed is an updated version of the shed
in the backyard that has long been a part of Australian
culture. Men’s Sheds are springing up all around Australia.
If you look inside one you might see several men restoring
furniture, perhaps restoring bicycles for a local school,
maybe fixing lawn movers or making a kid’s cubby house
for Camp Quality to raffle. You might also see a few young
men working with the older men learning new skills and
maybe also learning something about life from the men
they work with. You will see tea- bags, coffee cups and a
comfortable area where men can sit and talk. You will
probably also see an area where men can learn to cook for
themselves or learn how to contact their families by
computer.
So, what is so special about this new type of Men’s Shed?
Most men have learned from our culture that they don’t talk
about their feelings and emotions. There has been little
encouragement for men to take an interest in their own
health and well-being. Unlike women, most men are
reluctant to talk about their emotions and that means that
they do not usually ask for help. Probably because of this
many men are less healthy than women, they drink more,
take more risks and they suffer from isolation, loneliness
and depression. Relationship breakdown, retrenchment or
early retirement from a job, loss of children following a
divorce, physical or mental illness are just some of the
problems that men feel hard to deal with on their own.
Good health is based on many factors including feeling
good about yourself, being productive and valuable to your
community, connecting to friends and maintaining an active
body and active mind. Becoming a member of a Men’s
Shed gives a man a safe and busy environment where he
can find many of these things in an atmosphere of old-
fashioned mateship. Importantly, there is no pressure. Men
can just come and have a yarn and a cuppa if that’s all they
want. Members of Men’s Sheds come from all walks of life
– the bond that unites them is that they are men with time
on their hands. At the Alexandra Hills Men’s Shed we have
supervisors with both the technical and social skills to
provide a safe and happy environment where men are
welcome to work on a project of their choice in their own
time. The only ‘must’ is to observe safe working practises,
all in a spirit of mateship.
Because men don’t make a fuss about their problems,
these problems have consistently been either ignored or
swept under the carpet, by both our health system and
modern society. It’s time for a change and the Men’s Shed
movement is one of the most powerful tools we have in
helping men to once again become valued and respected
members of our community.
The number of Sheds has grown rapidly but in the early
days there was no central reference source and a great
deal of duplication and ‘wheel re-invention’ occurred. In
April 2007 the Australian Men’s Shed Association (AMSA)
was set up to act as a resource centre for all Sheds and to
promote the idea of Independent Community Men’s Sheds.
The Association represents and promotes the Shed
movement.