Community
7 September, 2022
"Gazza’s Goss: Mossmen Who Know The Drill!"
SOME weeks ago, I popped in to the recently established ‘SheShed’ in Mossman.
To keep it fair, I also promised to visit the Men’s Shed and this week seemed like a perfectly good time to do that.
On first inspection, the Men’s Shed appears to be a very well organised and equipped location for DIY projects of all types. This is certainly the case, but on further investigation it becomes apparent that the building, equipment and members represent so much more.
Almost 1000 Men Sheds are supported by The Australian Men’s Shed Association (AMSA) which is recognised as one of Australia’s largest male based community development organisations. AMSA was established in 2007 by Australian independent community-based Men’s Sheds to represent, support and promote the Men’s Shed movement. It was founded on the principle of sharing knowledge, by acting as a central hub for information exchange.
The Mossman Men’s Shed, which was developed at Mossman Support Services in 2012, attracts a diverse range of men of all abilities and ages and offers a similarly diverse range of projects
Some of the key objectives is to help men in the local community remain socially active and enjoy the company of like-minded people. By coming together, the guys can share and develop skills, particularly in manual labour, such as woodwork, metalwork, furniture building, restoration projects and in order for the Shed to run, some fun raising activities.
In fact, supporting the Douglas Shire with their skills, the Shedders undertake community projects such as building Santa’s Sleigh for the Christmas Events, ANZAC crosses to be laid during the Dawn Service and regular repairs and refurbishment of furniture and toys for community programs. The men also make native bee boxes to house our little local pollinators, myna bird traps to stop the bad birds and bird feeders to feed the nice ones.
Further to all of the above, this valuable asset is an excellent opportunity to mentor local youth and is simply a great place for the guys to sit down, have a cuppa and a yarn.
If all of this has whetted your handyman appetite, then don’t hesitate to pop along and get involved.
The Mossman Men’s Shed can be found at the Mossman Community Services site at 20 Mill Street Mossman. The boys meet Mondays, Wednesday and Thursdays from 9.30am to 1pm with just a $10 yearly membership fee required. Further information can also be found by calling 4098 2836 (Option 1).
I’m off to grind some angles, so for now it’s Gazza signing out!
Send your stories to: gazza@cairnslocalnews.com.au
