Gellibrand clients Phillip, Stephen, and Tim participate regularly in Wyndham Park Community Shed’s ‘Men’s Shed’ days. It’s a fun and active learning experience they value highly.
On the day I visit Wyndham Park Community Shed, Gellibrand clients Stephen and Tim are busy putting together woodwork creations.
“I’m making a birdhouse that I can put outside in my garden,” Stephen says. He’s had woodwork experience before coming to the Men’s Shed, but he says he “learns a lot”, adding, “We make good stuff here.”
Both Stephen and Tim, sometimes working together, are supported by Men’s Shed staff and a Gellibrand team member. They hammer, drill, measure, sand – and enjoy all the sensory elements of the workshop, including the different textures of various sandpapers.
As well as his own toolbox – that all participants make – Stephen has recently built a shoe rack and a coat stand. “Stephen has a lot of patience,” says Peter Vaux, who oversees the woodworking program. “Other members like what he makes and want to make the same as him. Stephen was very happy to know that other people like his ideas.”
When it comes to Tim, his latest idea was to make a pair of bookends, which he tells me will have a special feature.
“They’ll have penholders, to store all my pens and pencils,” he smiles, before working with Peter on drilling into wood blocks the holes that will be home for his writing equipment.
Versions of Wyndham Park Community Shed have been running since 2011. Manager Daniel Schultheis says it’s a welcoming space where people of all ages and abilities can access tools, share skills, or simply have a cuppa and enjoy each other’s company.
“The Woodwork for All Abilities program started in early 2022,” Daniel says, adding it’s part of the Men’s Shed days and offers one-on-one or small group training for people with disability. He shows me the spacious woodwork area with its six benches and a range of tools and machinery. Shed members use it all to create their own items for sale at markets or for home use, while also repairing community items.
“We sell at markets to help us buy stuff like nails, screws, and other smaller items,” Peter Vaux says. “The rest of our materials are donated.”
Gellibrand client Philip says he likes going to the Men’s Shed. “I do all sorts of things. I made a boat, not too big. It was made of wood and I finished it not long ago. I’ve got good hand skills and they help me out there at the Shed.”
Manager Daniel said most Shed members learned their skills from the previous generation of members and that there were plans to bolster the All-Abilities Program to take on more participants.
“We have more demand than we can sometimes meet,” he says, while noting the Shed is always working on being more inclusive. “That includes making reasonable adjustments to workspaces and tools, being receptive to barriers faced by people with disabilities, and changing the culture to be more inclusive.”
Peter Vaux says Gellibrand clients have settled into the program well, building strong rapport with other members as they work on their personal projects.
“They also enjoy the social aspects of the Shed, like conversations around the coffee table and community BBQs.”
Peter says Phillip, who has participated for longer, has his own bench with a wood burner for writing and drawing on wood, which he has mastered the skill of using.
“Being a big Elvis fan, he has drawn countless amounts of Elvis – we said he should start his own shop!”
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