New Zealand Men's Sheds

The national web site has come out of the plan from the first national hui in April 2010. See this link for more info. menzshedaotearoa.org.nz

The Canterbury Men’s Centre originally set up the mensshed.org.nz  site to provide  minimal support for men to find local sheds around the country. We hope the site mentioned above does a much better job of this.

We suggest that if you want post info about your shed or want to put your hand up to find other guys to start a shed that you contact the other site.

HI Sheddies,

You’ll find the flyer here for the inaugural national conference for any of you that care to attend.

Menzshed conference 2010 (PDF, 168KB)

E-mail : nb001@wave.co.nz

(from Neil Bruce)

Greetings all, presently a steering group of four is preparing, on behalf of sheds already established, an inaugural conference of men’s sheds in Masterton from April 9-11th. This conference has principally been organised to assist new sheds through establishment options, to provide a network of sheds for members to support and visit each other, to prevent unnecessary duplication, to learn collectively as we combine our energies, expertise and experience to seek solutions to problems and to achieve new goals and break new ground. The Masterton shed has shown what is possible to achieve and we would like to share their story along with your stories at this conference. There are some critical areas we all need good information about, Insurance, Public Liability, Safety in the Shed, First Aid, and we need to find the best ways to sustainably fund sheds and their activities. It is important to have local and national government representatives aware of concerns we have and how these concerns can be best addressed in the community.

The theme “Let the Shedding Begin” has at least four foci; awareness raising for the wider community, including local and national politicians, inspirational stories of the benefits of shedding for individuals and communities, tools and ideas to equip shed advocates grow the physical shed presence in each community, and discussion about the formation of a National Association that can advocate and promote the positive values that emerge from the Community Men’s Shed model.

There will be other things to emerge – new friendships, enjoyment, learning, humour, contacts and projects. And what about health, wellbeing and innovation?

You all have so much to offer and if you wish to join in this conference – please contact Peter McNeur peter.mcneur@waireap.org.nz for more information

Cheers Neil

We’ve been working hard in Canterbury to get our sheds up and going. You’ll find the first version of our flyer below (original design courtesy of the Wellington shed with a logo design courtesy of John Joseph Kingi. Thanks for the support guys!
You’ll find contact for the Cant’y groups on the Canty Menz Shed Flyer

The West Franklin Community Mens Shed Trust is actively involved with the health and well being of men in the community. We currently have 45 subscribed members and 168 occasional users of the facility. The Counties Manukau Area Health Board is now referring more disabled persons to our establishment for active participation in Community projects and the Middlemore Hospitable Mental Health Agency has started bringing men suffering from Azheimers to us for practical instruction and peer association. The Shed was established 01/02/2008 for the health and well being of men in the community by providing a workshop and meeting facilities so that men of all ages could associate with each other in a friendly environment and do what men do in their sheds. Physical address: 1391 Waiuku Road, Pukeoware, Waiuku Postal address WFCMS, PO Box 454, Waiuku 2341 Ph 09 2358001 mob 021 15 15 808 wfmensshed@xtra.co.nz

We want to put info about your local shed on this web site? Please use the Feedback from at the left of this page to contact Donald and he will post it. We will also put info about it on a Google Map for you.

Want to start a shed? Contact us and we can tell you if anyone in your area is working on a shed now. Or we can tell others about you if you are working on one.

There is a discussion about Men’s Sheds (and other things blokey) on Handyman.co.nz, join in!

The Handyman has been set up by Olwen Williams. Apparently her bloke Fred, spends all his time in the shed or in the kitchen.

Our Vision is:

• Every community in Australia will have a men’s shed.
• To address the issues of men’s health (physical, emotional and social well-being) in the community.
• To engage the elderly, differently-abled, youth, veterans and other groups of men of the communities in both rural Australia and urban
• Australia, and to specifically address any issues of isolation, loneliness and depression;
• To support the social interaction of men in transitional periods (e.g. Redundancy, Bereavement, Retirement, Ill Health, Relocation, Respite Care);
• To share, disseminate and preserve the skills, abilities and interests that are relevant to the community.

Our Mission is:

• To provide the skill, expertise and resources to any community group to
• enable it to establish, effectively operate and build a sustainable men’s shed.
• To facilitate links between men and health-related agencies, family organisations and specialist health professionals within the community.
• To advocate the benefits and build partnerships between men’s sheds and the community.
• To demonstrate to men’s sheds how their operation can be cost neutral, that is, that its ongoing costs can be met or exceeded by its revenue.
• To initiate and disseminate research on topics of particular relevance to men and their men’s shed.
• To provide a strong national voice on men’s issues and men’s sheds.

13 October 2008

In Pursuing our Vision, We Commit to the Following Values:

• Compassion and empathy in serving men in all communities,
• Sincerity and devotion to improving of men’s health,
• Honesty and integrity in all our activities,
• Reliability and trustworthiness in delivering on our promises,
• Responsiveness to the needs of men, their families and their communities,
• Wisdom in applying technology and innovation to the improvement of men’s sheds,
• Respect for the value added by teamwork and participation to life-long learning,
• Appreciation of the value of contributions by partners and sponsors,
• Responsibility and generosity in giving back to the community.

We have received our copy of the Australian Men’s Sheds Association Newsletter – April 2009. There is further information about the 3rd National Men’s Shed Conference on the 24th and 25th August, 2009. The Conference has been moved to the Wrest Point Hotel in Hobart. This issue gives details on how to register through the ASMA website.

The theme for the 2009 National Men’s Shed Conference is “Where to from Here”? focusing on Shed management and self sustainability. Panel discussions will investigate current sustainable developments and individual papers will explain  sustainability evaluation tools and how Thriving Sheds are constantly Reinventing Themselves.  A workshop will investigate new activities for Sheds and these apply to Sheds in the Planning and Start up stages as well as established facilities. A workshop will discuss the information that Councils, Sponsors and Community groups require when a Shed is planned and real life examples will cover the birth from”Concept to Reality” and aspects of Training.

A key feature of Men’s Sheds is improving men’s health and there will be a special focus on this role of Sheds in relation to Men’s Health issues.

“Like Mushrooms” is the best way to describe the Men’s Shed projects in Canterbury. The most recent project under consideration is in Sumner. Others so far in various stages of development are based in:

• Riccarton
• St Albans
• Hei Hei
• New Brighton
• Oxford
• Ashburton
• Selwyn District

Contact The Canterbury Men’s Centre if you want to know more, or to get on our mailing list for our monthly Men’s Shed Hub meetings.