TIME OUT: Richmond-Waimea Men’s Shed members Allan Brown, Fred Stade, Ray Deadman and Alan Kissell at their new home, the former kennel association rooms at Richmond Park.
————————–
The roller door goes up on the Nelson region’s first Men’s Shed next month.
The Australian concept of a place where blokes can go to potter away on projects and share stories and trade skills has taken off in New Zealand.
It has taken 18 months to get a local haunt organised. But with the ink on their legal documents almost dry, Richmond-Waimea Men’s Shed members took to renovating the former Nelson District Kennel Association clubrooms at Richmond Park with enthusiasm at the weekend.
The chairman of the incorporated society behind the shed, Jim Davis, said the project had taken longer than he hoped to get off the ground, but with the official opening only a month away, things were getting exciting.
“The sheds give men a place where they can use their skills and pass them on, do community projects, bond, talk, cook and relax.”
Mr Davis said the committee bought the building with the help of funding from the region’s two councils and the Canterbury Community Trust.
He said sheds provided a place for men who had lost their own shed, often through the sale of the family home, or who had retired and missed the camaraderie of the workplace environment.
The Richmond shed would be a place where men could interact, he said.
“Men do not network like women. This gives them a focus.”
The Men’s Shed was not a community care facility, but members looked out for each other, he said.
“Men talk while they work, and we are finding already that they are talking about all sorts of things.”
Mr Davis said members could not use the facility for their own profit, but community groups could have items built for their projects at reasonable rates.
The Richmond shed was currently designated for wood-based skills only, but a little light engineering could be catered for in the future, he said.
The Richmond-Waimea Men’s Shed will be officially opened at the end of next month.
Nelson District Kennel Association secretary Claire Trevelyan said the club was more than happy to sell its building to the Men’s Shed committee. After 50 years of service, the building was on the verge of being surplus to the club’s needs, she said.
The club would remain at Richmond Park under an agreement with the A and P Association, Mrs Trevelyan said.
With membership climbing and all the club’s shows held outside, the club only needed the use of a kitchen and occasionally a room for committee meetings, she said.
“They seem like a nice bunch of guys, and it was a unanimous vote to sell.”
HELEN MURDOCH – The Nelson Mail
http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/5458942/Blokes-get-ready-to-hang-out-in-the-shed
