The Men's Shed Story

Mensheds Australia

Mensheds Australia formed in 2006 as an organisation to support the early initiatives to establish sheds. The purpose was to help sheds use the experience of other men’s sheds and provide access to expertise about the formation, structure and operation of men’s sheds. Mensheds Australia facilitated the formation of new sheds through collating information and providing information to men’s sheds.

The vision for men’s sheds is to:

• Provide support to men in need of help arising from mental illness or other d ebilitating illnesses;
• Ease the transition of men from full-time employment to other activities in retirement;
• Provide an additional link between the primary health network and the many men who have no regular contact with that network;
• Establish a place for men that enabled social interaction and activities to maintain the health and wellbeing of those men;
• Build a culture in the sheds where all men are welcome and where mutual respect and trust are paramount;
• Become a focal point in the community for the identification of men’s health issues and actions to resolve those issues.

Mensheds Australia prepared a range of materials relating to the establishment, structure and operation of men’s sheds that were available to member sheds.

Mensheds Australia also established a help desk as a place where men’s sheds could obtain information, discuss issues and exchange information.

These are on-going services that are provided to men’s sheds.

Men’s Sheds

Men’s sheds have been established for a range of reasons. At the heart lies some common interest that is shared, and often involved activities built around arts, crafts and technical skills – the kind of things done in the backyard shed. Rather than work on those interests alone, a community shed introduces a social interaction among the participants that is an important part of well being. The interest of the group develops from that interest and copious coffee to expand the range of things that they do.

Men’s sheds are not the same as a franchise – they are all different! The character and operations of the shed are a reflection of their niche in their community. That niche has elements including:

• The skills, experience and capacities of their members;
• The physical, financial and other resources that they have available;
• The needs and opportunities that exist in their community.

Men’s sheds are a particular kind of social enterprise. That means they operate much like any other enterprise, working to achieve defined objectives that are both social and financial. The financial outcomes are designed to support the pursuit of social objectives, making the key difference from other enterprises that pursue objectives to benefit the enterprise owners.

Mensheds Australia has a focus on helping men’s sheds to identify and develop their particular niche in their community and the social objective that they pursue.
Key Principles underlying Men’s Sheds

Mensheds Australia has encouraged men’s sheds to develop in ways that apply the following principles. There are more that can be added but experience suggests that these are critical to a strategy to build a successful and continuing men’s shed. It will take some time for all of these principles to be applied and produce the results that will earn the respect of the men’s shed in their community.

1. Local autonomy This refers to the organisational structure of the men’s shed and involves local ownership and control.

2. Adapt to local needs The men’s shed management has to identify the niche characteristics noted above and develop its program to that situation.

3. Quality management and operations It is almost as easy to operate and manage well as it is to “muddle through”.

4. Success comes for a series of small steps Like a good cricket innings, it is built steadily through small steps that achieve results. That builds momentum and credibility. Many ambitious plans have faltered through attempting to do too much too soon and promising too much.

5. Needs healthy men The ideal is to have a membership that reflects the characteristics of the population. The fit, able and skilled provide the capacity to support those men in need of help.

6. Own funding capacity Some degree of financial independence preserves autonomy and flexibility in developing the program of activities.

7. Operates a men’s health program This has to be developed as a core of the men’s shed program – it may take some time to develop this part of the program.

8. Health program activities A variety of activities helps to keep men active, learning, interacting together and generally enjoying themselves in a stress-free environment – all are part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

9. Formal health program activities There is an emerging view that all of us should take more responsibility for our own health and wellbeing if we are to enjoy a full life and keep medical costs contained. The program should help men in men’s shed communities to be active managers of their own health. This establishes the local men’s shed as the pivot for men’s health activities in their community.

10. Become part of the formal health system There is a value chain for the delivery of health services for men. The men’s shed should identify the particular link(s) that they fill in the delivery of men’s health services to their members and to the men in their community where they work and live.

Our help desk will be able to assist in the application of these principles to your shed.

Developments  2006 to 2011

The existence and role of men’s sheds is now widespread. There has been a rapid development of new sheds (over 500) and the media features stories on a regular basis. The men’s shed development is maturing.

There has been recognition at the Federal Government level that there is a need for a men’s health policy with an announcement in late 2010. At this time the allocation of funds is small (relative to funding of women’s programs) but it provides high profile recognition of the role that men’s sheds can play in the development and delivery of health services.

Over the past 5 years, there has been an evolution in the support materials and organisational structures available to men’s sheds. There has been the development of special sheds that service particular specialist needs such as those in indigenous communities, the mentally disadvantaged and prisoners. They are all needed developments.

Now the focus shifts toward measurable outcomes and the programs that will generate those outcomes

Future Focus

Against that background Mensheds Australia has been shifting the focus from creating new sheds to the development of programs that will deliver health and well being outcomes and be consistent with developments in the economy.

Three particular aspects have been identified by Mensheds Australia (among others).

1. Health Service Costs  The health service and its costs are an on-going concern for all governments in Australia. Men’s sheds have the potential to play a role in containing those costs and advancing the welfare of men and the community. Some of the actions might include:

• Developing ways to reach out to the large number of men who have no regular contact with the health system;
• Building the number of men who undertake regular preventative check-ups;
• Disseminating information on actions men may take to reduce the risk of them becoming chronically ill and encouraging them to act on that information; and
• Encouraging employers to invest in the health of their employees.
• Mensheds Australia seeks to engage with agencies and businesses that share the need for these and other actions to be progressed.

2. Rehabilitate the Disabled  There is now a “patchwork economy” where some areas of the country have labour shortages while others have surplus labour. The Federal Government has announced a number of measures to lessen some of the resulting stresses and to build productivity. A particular set of measures have been announced to reduce the number of people on full disability allowances and to get more of those on benefits back to part-time or full-time work.

Mensheds Australia is interested in the potential for men’s sheds to play an active role in the rehabilitation of disabled workers through skill development and the building of confidence to re-enter the workforce. In this way it would be contributing to the realisation of those Federal Government policy objectives.

3. Men's Health Program  Although the Federal Government has allocated some funding for men’s sheds, it is small relative to the growing number of sheds. And it is small when considered against the potential role of men’s sheds in men’s health initiatives among men’s shed members and the community generally. This is a signal that more agencies and businesses can play an effective role in developing men’s health programs that can be operated through the men’s shed movement.

Mensheds Australia was initially established in part to provide a channel for those outside the men’s shed movement to make contact with men’s sheds individually or as a whole. We welcome the interest of those organisations who can contact Mensheds Australia on 0457 888 387.