The Alexandra Hills Men’s Shed!
Is a part of the Australian Men’s Shed Association (AMSA) that commenced in April 2007 to act as a resource centre for all Sheds and to promote the idea of Independent Community Men’s Sheds. This was due to the number of Sheds that had grown rapidly as in the early days there was no central reference source and a great deal of duplication and ‘wheel re-invention’ occurred. The Association represents and promotes the Shed movement Australia wide.
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 practices, 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.
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.
The modern Men’s Shed!
Is an updated version of the shed in the backyard that has long been a part of Australian culture and have sprung up all around the country. Many men, especially after retirement, find themselves alone, often living in isolation and needing to connect with their community and find a new purpose but aren’t sure how. Others just want to learn a new skill or revisit old ones. If you look inside you might see several men restoring furniture, perhaps restoring bicycles for a local school, maybe fixing lawn mowers or making a kid’s cubby house for Camp Quality to raffle. All 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. If you would like to visit and have a tour please wear covered footwear.
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 others, 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.