www.channelmag.co.nz Issue 74 - March 2017 Issue 74 - March 2017 www.channelmag.co.nz 7372

COMMUNITY FEATURE: THE MENS SHED NORTH SHORE

A place for blokes...Aidan Bennett discovers The Men’s Shed North Shore

Every now and then we stumble upon a community initiative that we feel the need to tell people about. The Men’s Shed North Shore is one of those. This information on the Men’s Shed website really sums up what this is all about… It has been said that Sheds are to a man what a handbag is to a woman. Many men on retirement not only find they are at a loose end, but when they downsize their homes they find they no longer have space for the workshop where they once undertook many tasks using their life time of accumulated skills. It has been shown that Men’s Sheds have made a huge positive step to giving men of all ages and backgrounds, a space where they can socialise and they can also help alleviate depression associated with advancing years and can assist with rehabilitation from the effects of injury or disability. The Men’s Shed provides a place for men to improve their social network and self-esteem by feeling productive and valuable to society in general. Aidan Bennett went along to the Glenfield based facility for a visit.

I first heard about the Men’s Shed a year-or-so ago when the Benefitz team were asked to print their brochure. I read the brochure and was so taken with the community initiative that we printed them at no charge to support them. Since that time I’ve been intending to visit to do a story for Channel as our readers need to know about this fantastic facility. I got there in mid-February.

The Men’s Shed North Shore was originally driven by Jill Nerheny of the Kaipatiki Community Trust (then the Birkenhead Northcote Community Co-ordinator). She saw the concept in Australia back in 2006 and decided that it would be a

great fit here on the Shore.“From that visit to Aussie, it was obvious to me that this was a

project that would meet identified needs in our area, and certainly could be initiated here in North Shore,” explained Jill Nerheny when quizzed on the early origins of The Men’s Shed North Shore. “It was here that the idea of implementation of the North Shore Men`s Shed grew. There were many disappointments the working group coped with, as to finding a suitable location for this project, but the search continued.”

A working group and then a trust was formed with Ross McEwan as the founding Chairman (other founding trustees were Neil Malcolm, Robert Ash, Tom Foster, Allan Gera, John Monash and Trevor Pugh). The Glenfield site at Elliott Reserve was found in 2010 and the council granted the The Men’s Shed North Shore Trust a 20-year lease. That enabled planning to get under way for the Shed.

The TotalSpan shed was built in 2012 and the Men's Shed North Shore, opened its doors in April 2013. It was one of the first in New Zealand. There are now many more around the country, with a national body established that has 100 registered member organisations. Many of these are currently in formation, but clearly it is catching-on.

The ‘Shed’ is essentially a fully equipped woodworking and engineering workshop where a range of men’s things are done.

These include:- woodworking projects; community projects; small boat repairs, electronic repairs; furniture repairs; wood turning; toy making; small engineering projects; computer skills; model making.

I visited on a Monday morning and the Men’s Shed was a hive of activity. There were around 20 blokes hard at work doing a whole range of things. The Men’s Shed is located in the Elliott Reserve in Elliott Avenue in Bayview (Glenfield), adjacent to Glenfield Tennis Club.

On arrival I was greeted by the trust’s current chairman Larry Klassen and treasurer Ross Miller. We sat down for a chat and there was a knock on the office door. They had a visitor from a local kindergarten who needed one of their very important wooden sandpit diggers repaired. This is the type of community work that is carried out at the Men’s Shed. In fact Larry Klassen estimates that 70% of what they do is community work and 30% personal stuff.

“We do a lot of work for entities like kindergartens and other community organisations such as environmental groups,” says Larry Klassen. “We recently made some rat bait stations for the Friends of Okura Bush Protection Society, weta houses for DOC and some nesting boxes for a university student project. There

was also a Santa float made for the recent Christmas parades at Birkenhead and Glenfield. We also recently restored a battered old train engine for the Glenfield Public Library.”

The Men’s Shed North Shore is open four days a week – Monday’s, Wednesday’s, Friday’s and Saturday’s. Larry Klassen explained that there are on average around 20-25 blokes per day at the shed. Membership is $90 per year and there are just over 120 financial members – but room for more! Funding supporters include the Kaipatiki Local Board and Auckland Council as well as major sponsors Birkenhead Licensing Trust and Metlifecare.

“This is a place for guys who are retired to come and mix and mingle and generally enjoy themselves,” explains Larry Klassen. “Some guys come here and work pretty solidly for the four days every week, and some come along and can hardly leave the coffee room they enjoy the company so much. There’s lots of chat, sharing of knowledge and general pottering – it really is a sheddies paradise!”

The Men’s Shed North Shore welcomes new members of all ages and if you are not too sure about joining, then just go along and spend some time chatting with some of the chaps at the Shed.

Visit: www.mensshednorthshore.org.nz

Larry Klassen (right) and Ross Miller.

Larry Klassen and Roger Dallimore with a sandpit digger about to be restored for a local kindergarten.A hive of activity.Hard at work.

The Mens Shed at Elliott Reserve.