General News
2 April, 2025
Men’s Shed members laud camaraderie and mutual support
Stawell Men’s Shed president Allan Rees said the camaraderie with his fellow Men’s Shed members, and mental health benefits are what makes the community group so great.
“If you expect to work hard, you’ve come into the wrong place,” said Stawell Men’s Shed president Allan Rees.
“If there's jobs to do, we'll do them. If you want to come down and just sit and drink coffee and talk all day, we're quite happy to do that.”
Mr Rees said the camaraderie with his fellow Men’s Shed members, and mental health benefits are what makes the community group so great.
The Australian Men’s Shed Association recently released the results of a survey on how connection, purpose and laughter contributes to members' sense of wellbeing and their quality of life.
The survey found that 55 per cent of shedders enjoy learning or teaching new skills.
“We try to,” joked Stawell Men’s Shed vice president Andrew Reeves.
The survey also found that 60 per cent of members found happiness in being able to contribute and give back to their community and 61 per cent said that “working together with “my shed mates” makes them happy.
“Working with mates and talking bull,” said Men’s Shed Member Con Hatzi.
Also in the survey, 69 per cent of members said that simply having a cuppa and a chat brings them joy and that the banter and humour is one of the things they enjoy most at the shed.
“Especially in the winter, out by the fire,” said Mr Rees.
“We sit around the fire, keep warm and talk rubbish.”
Mr Reeves said the best part of the Men’s Shed for him is the way the members support each other.
“If any of us have got a problem, this is where we sit down and talk,” said Mr Reeves.
The COVID-19 pandemic saw the Stawell Men’s Shed’s numbers shrink, but the group is going strong with a small, active and passionate membership.
Although the group does face challenges when looking to grow with the quality of the Stawell Men’s Shed a limiting factor.
“The biggest problem is the age of the shed,” Mr Reeves said.
The group joked that while working on a rainy day, you’d need to have an umbrella handy.
Air pollution is also a problem the group spoke of.
The shed, at 11 Smith Street, is in an industrial area of Stawell with dust from nearby brickworks, and other agricultural businesses not always making the shed pleasant.
“We’ve got a junkie old shed,” said Mr Rees.
“But, we’ve got a good group of blokes.”