“I’d be dead without the Shed!”
Bob is obviously very comfortable speaking about his work with Men’s Shed WA.
He is a true believer in the benefits to the mostly male members, in terms of the improved physical and mental health outcomes, and proud that the Men’s Shed movement is one of the few organisations in the world that is growing rapidly, so fast in fact that numbers are being capped.
There are currently 186 Men’s Sheds in WA (MSWA), and they are ‘everywhere’. They are organised in 10 zones, and, unlike Rotary, there is a peak national body that can engage with the Federal government, in particular the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Bob is a veteran himself, 42 years in the army as a signaler, 22 of which were as a full time soldier. He served in Vietnam and his ambivalence towards the RSL stems from his service in Vietnam. The RSL is very supportive of MSWA, as are Soldier On and the recently created Soldiers and Sirens, which includes emergency service workers.
One of his main projects is encouraging other veterans to join Men’s Sheds, which has meant that the average age in coming down, and some Sheds are opening up for more hours than just 9am-3pm, Monday-Friday.
Each Shed is autonomous, and set their own fees. The two that Bob is involved with are supported by Attadale Rotary and Fremantle Rotary, and understand that men have a need to get together to “do stuff”. As one member said to Bob, “I’d be dead without the Shed!”
FOOTNOTE: For some years now Applecross Rotary has been trying to work with the Melville City Council to set up another Men’s Shed (the only one in Melville is in Bicton) but efforts have been stymied by a Council shy of ratepayer complaints. The last one we thought was going ahead was shelved after complaints from would-be neighbours. Must be fear of all those noisy late night parties and vehicles hooning around the street! You let one Men’s Shed in and the next thing you know there’ll be a Wave Park!