“Shedders” expanding horizons with imminent Lucknow return

Men’s Sheds are often associated with old blokes making garden seats with a bit of wood-lathing and metal-working thrown in.

Looking to return to their long-time base at Lucknow School of Arts, Orange Men’s Shed though are expanding their horizons.

“We’ve been mainly woodwork and metalwork, but now we want to increase what we offer,” President Alan Campbell explained.

“IT (computers), that sort of stuff is what we’ll be looking at further down the track, it’s whatever people want to do. We’re only limited by what individuals want to be involved in.

“We’ve also got guys who want to do things like upholstery, which we only do a little bit of at the moment,” he added.

Their imminent return to the near finally-restored spiritual home at Lucknow could be the catalyst for their newly-expanded focus, Alan said.

“Yes, at this stage, we are in the process of organising a meeting with Council to see what’s going on, but it looks fairly well fitted out, it looks like most of it is done,” he said.

He says though, that the metalworking shed at the rear of the historic War Memorial hall is the likely starting point for new activities.

“We’ve got to look at a bigger space... one thing we would possibly look at, is down the back area where we have the metalworking shed where we have basically a four-car garage

“We’ll have to talk it over with Council, though they seem encouraging.”

The local Men’s Shed – part of a unique Australia-wide initiative involving woodworking and carpentry to help the well-being and mental health of older males – had to move following a 2019 fire that almost destroyed their village hall.

They are still operating at a former ward of Bloomfield Hospital in south Orange whose availability probably saved the local group from closing.

“We were very fortunate to get it out at Bloomfield, otherwise we would all have been struggling,”, Alan said.

The historic building at Bloomfield, sited on the northern edge of the old campus, has become a convenient home-away-from-home for the group that seemed otherwise destined to shutter.

“The fire was deliberately lit... but we’re so lucky we got this place, it was originally a ward, then a laundry, then it was shut down for years,” he explained.

The local group, running now for more than a decade, has however been able to continue their valuable work with older men in the community, but the lack of a permanent home has seen the loss of members.

“We’ve dropped about a third of our members, we had about 75 and now we’re down to about 50.”

Alan believes also that social changes since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic has had an impact on groups like the Men’s Shed.

He said that the arson attack, the forced move, and the 18-month pandemic has, however, been revealing: “It has certainly shown the resilience in the group. Like anything, you face adversity, and come out the other side a better person.”

The working-with-wood projects the group offers are not all a hard slog – socialising, morning teas, and support are just as important. “It’s for woodwork and for any blokes who want to come out and chat,” Alan added.

He said that the group are also looking for more recruitment with age limits on entry effectively abolished.

“We’re basically to do with the mental and physical wellbeing of men and we’re open to any age over 18.

“Although we’re predominantly retired gents, we’re open to everybody and anybody. If you’ve got any suggestions, and the space is there, we’ll have a look,” he said.

He added though, that you don’t need to be a master craftsmen to join the group.

“The majority of our member probably come out as much for a cup of tea and a chat as to do crafts. Before lockdown we often had trips away as well to places like Lighting Ridge, Sydney and Canberra,” Alan said.

The Orange group meets Monday-Wednesdays from 9.30am-3pm and new members are invited to turn up at any time. For more information, call 0475 250 779.