November 2019 2508 HMS Article

By Michael Croft and Ron Balderston

The Men's Shed movement is all about improving men’s wellbeing by doing something useful together. Helensburgh Men’s Shed recently sent two blokes to the Australian Men’s Shed Association Gathering at Adelaide to help us continue doing this well. This is one advantage among many of belonging to AMSA. Highlights included hearing that the Irish (400 sheds) and Icelanders (3 sheds) are very grateful to model their sheds on Aussie ones. 

It's always special to visit another shed, and as part of the conference we visited Playford Council Shed. Although it was small, they were in a community hub with many other related facilities making networking simple and effective. 

There were plenty of tempting trade displays which gave us things to dream about and reassurance we have equipped our shed well, and a broad selection of Men’s Health displays from the Australian Men’s Health Forum, Asbestos Diseases Foundation, RUOK, Department of Veteran’s Affairs, Healthy Male, Spanner in the Works, HCA Home, Asbestos Victims, Prostate Cancer Foundation, Cochlear Limited, St John Ambulance and Hearing Australia.

In his keynote address Professor John MacDonald said; 'Wellness is about total physical, medical and mental health - a balanced diet, social connection, exercise, movement and sleep.’ He noted the importance of a sense of purpose and how Men’s Sheds provide it for so many.

We enjoyed much laughter from a healthy supply of Dad jokes and bad puns and were challenged in ‘Shed Mates’ to be observant of and provide the structures for shedders who may need support.

Of course, the big advantage of a conference is meeting others doing similar work in their communities, and we enjoyed connecting with blokes from all around Australia and in particularly observing that the most successful Sheds are those that have strong and active community connections.

We would really enjoy making more new connections in 2508 so please visit us at your Men’s Shed for our free BBQ and Open Day, Saturday 16 November 9am to 2pm.

Helensburgh Men’s Shed

199A Parkes Street

Open Mondays and Tuesdays 9-3

Michael Croft 0413 401 522

Ron Balderston 0410 564 752