Haberfield Men's Shed

Haberfield Men’s Shed (the Shed) is one of our ongoing successful partnerships.  

The Shed provides activities including woodwork, manual arts, upholstery, gardening programs and social interaction opportunities for retired men, war veterans and persons with a disability or mental illness residing in the local area.

It also provides woodwork and upholstery programs for people with disabilities in partnership with St Vincent de Paul’s Mary Mackillop Outreach.

Some of the individuals supported by the Men’s Shed are vulnerable, marginalized and working towards overcoming personal adversity and isolation.

Benefits to our community

The Shed provides:

• a safe and friendly environment accessible to all men (particularly for men with a mental illness and/or disability and/or complex/high support needs) with a strong culture of social inclusiveness
• opportunities for lifelong learning
• opportinites to learn new skills or hone existing skills by working on meaningful projects
• help with the health and wellbeing of retired men, war veterans and residents of Assisted Boarding Houses
• help with transition to retirement for those recently moving out of the workforce. This has included a number of men with mild disabilities retiring from sheltered workshops.
• a place to value and foster the important contribution men make to community life.
• peer support for issues such as alcohol, quitting smoking, loss of friendships, illness, transition from ‘high powered executive to retirement amongst other things.
• social connection to a large variety of individuals to broaden outlooks and engage with people with alternate views on life.

Meet some of the members 

David Cole

I joined the Haberfield Men’s Shed soon after I retired. Because I had been working in a senior role, I did not have many friendships that I was able to maintain after retirement. The Shed means a lot to me because it has given me the chance to meet many people from all walks of life. This has enriched my life beyond measure.

The Men's Shed intergenerational programs working with schools gave a wonderful opportunity to exchange ideas and knowledge between young and old (er). This would not have been possible if I had not been part of the Haberfield Shed. The outreach means we have been able to offer something back to the local community.

It gives me great pleasure and pride when walking through our local suburbs to identify community items that I and others from the Shed have been involved in constructing.

Many are the times, especially this year, when I have felt useless and fed up. But I know from experience that if I make the effort to go and take part at the Haberfield Mens Shed I will return from it a more resilient and cheerful person.

The chance to design and construct useful, and sometimes beautiful, products for others is uplifting and confidence building.

The Shed is a real centre of excellence for team work and working with people from many different backgrounds. The opportunities of helping each other overcome difficulties, whether they be related to health, family upsets, or simply sharing useful knowledge, are many and have had real successes.

My wife would never say that she was glad to see me out of the house and at the Men's Shed, but she is always glad to see a more cheerful and positive man return!

Although the Haberfield Shed may have a very good leader, the ability for all of us to grow in knowledge of ourselves and others has also been remarkable. It plays a very important part of the week’s work, and play.

Vince Spiteri

I am a retired Engineer. I have been going to The Haberfield Men’s Shed for a number of years.

It has been a wonderful experience and had had many beneficial impacts on myself and the local participants.

There are a number of people who their only social interaction is at the shed, we do sit and talk over coffee and lunch about local affairs and share different points of view.

The shed has given me a real focus, as I have transitioned out of full time work, the impact on my mental health cannot be under estimated.

I have been able to learn new skills, that has kept me active with various projects in the shed.

Some of my favourite experiences was working with a local school and building a friendship bench for the children.

We also took some classes at the school and showed them some of the tools that are used in woodworking and their names.

The interactions with the local schools have been very impactful.

We also had a tomato sauce making day, where we cooked and bottled tomato passata with labels to promote the shed.

We created a production line to prepare, grind, bottle, cap, label and sterilise the product. It was a team effort and we finished up with a pasta lunch at the end.

The support of the shed is a very beneficial for our local community and I recommend it without reservation.

Brian McPherson

I am a volunteer at the Mens’ Shed Haberfield and have been attending for the past two years.

As a retiree and fairly new to the area, this has been an incredibly fortunate find for me. I have met many new friends and acquaintances. We are like a large family with a shared pursuit of supporting the local community through our charity work.

We repair furniture, such as chairs and tables, which would otherwise end up in landfill, not to mention the savings this ultimately provides to local Council.

We also create many items to support the Shed.

I operate wood-turning machinery and, as just one example, we make beautiful bespoke hand-turned pens.

In this way, I am able to share my skills with others and also learn new skills such as upholstering. Skills which might otherwise be lost.

This instils in me a sense of pride that my work in retirement is still appreciated and of value. Keeping productive helps my mind and body to stay active.

Outside of the shed, our volunteers meet up socially at local clubs, restaurants and pools, further supporting local businesses. This comradery and mateship supports our mental health and gives us a purpose and feeling of worth.

I am proud to be a part of the Men’s’ Shed. An Australian initiative which has now been rolled out to many other countries as they too recognise the positive value it provides to local communities.

Fred Desiderio

I love the Shed. It helps me concentrate. I meet new people

I like doing woodwork and new things. I like learning new things. It has helped me learn woodwork the proper way.

My confidence has improved and I can talk to others.

The Shed also gives me more energy.

Ray Turner - The happiest man in the shed

Ray Turner’s smile in this photo is one of pride as he surveys the Pelican Whirlygig he had just completed.

Ray’s friendly smile is one thing that makes an impression on almost everyone who meets him. He’s a handy cook in the kitchen, loves his weekly swimming outing, will gladly belt out a tune on the keyboard given the opportunity and needs no encouragement to sing whenever there’s a microphone on offer.

Ray’s positive enthusiasm for life is an inspiration for all.

The next project at the Shed for Ray will be to make some menu blackboards for Mary Mackillop Outreach's meal room.

Jack Wilson

“Feeling useful and being able to keep my mind active” is what keeps Jack coming back as a Vinnies volunteer at the Haberfield Men’s Shed.

Along with the comradery and good hearted banter there is a sense of community here. The Shed provides a reason to get up in the morning, a sense of purpose in the day, somewhere to go and a friendly face to meet you when you get there.

Projects that assist good causes add an immeasurable value to the work these guys do. Opportunities like making wooden crosses for the Vinnies youth programs, repairing and reupholstering furniture to go into group homes or Vinnies stores, and maintenance at Mary Mackillop disability service are the core activities that keep these volunteers busy.

After the devastation of the recent bushfires they have also been producing a bundle of quality nest boxes for Glider Possums. The boxes will be installed in the Capertee area and made of marine ply donated by Bunnings.

In partnership with St Columbas Primary School, the Shed is currently making toy blocks for refugee children at a new centre in Balmain.

The volunteers are also making a number of garden boxes for The Gift of Bread Charity. The flower boxes will be used to dress up their processing facility at Tempe.

Volunteers serving volunteers.

Most materials used at the Shed are old building materials or roadside furniture that is rejuvenated and repurposed for good causes. Offcuts get made into attractive serving platters, timber pens, homeware knickknacks and whatever their imagination can come up with.

The Shed is also one of the favourite parts of the week for many Mary Mackillop Outreach disability clients who get to help in the creating of new products and restoration of old pieces.

Contact

Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 10am-12pm
Mary MacKillop Outreach centre at 1-5 Rogers Avenue, Haberfield
For more information:  02 8752 2500