Monday, October 22, 2007

Mensheds

A nice piece in today's Guardian by Pete May draws attention to the Australian Mensheds not-for-profit company which puts sheds right at the heart of their work. Here's their mission statement:
"The growing problems with men's health, isolation, loneliness and depression are now looming as major health issues in Australia. Men's Sheds can play a significant and practical role in addressing these and other men's issues and at the same time act as a catalyst in stimulating their community's economic activities."
Or as they put it "economic gardening at work".

Their main goal is that every community in Australia will have a men’s shed and Mensheds also plan to:
* To engage the elderly, differently-abled, youth, veterans and other groups of men of the communities in both rural Australia and urban Australia, and to specifically address any issues of isolation, loneliness and depression;
* To support the social interaction of men in transitional periods (e.g. Redundancy, Bereavement, Retirement, Ill Health, Relocation, Respite Care);
* To share, disseminate and preserve the skills, abilities and interests that are relevant to the community.
There are some great voice-over presentations on the site which you should definitely explore.

2 comments:

  1. Extremely good stuff. Nice to see a focus on men's health and well being, something that a lot of us overlook or choose to not speak about.

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  2. Anonymous11:49 AM

    Love your site - hate my desk in the lounge - am going to join you!
    Anyone want to buy a genuine Nissen Hut - there is one for sale in Cumbria
    e-mail my web site for details;
    www.gamechanger.co.uk

    ReplyDelete