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The tools for success

The tools for success - Southern Cross Care

Some new tools at The Pines Retirement Living’s Men’s Shed are building carpentry skills, friendship and a camaraderie amongst male residents.

The new tools are a Planer Thicknesser, Tool Trolley and Scroll Saw, and were purchased thanks to a $1,000 Southern Cross Care Community Foundation Internal Grant.

Men’s Shed member and grant applicant, Bob Reilly, said he was very happy when he heard the application was successful because he knows how important the shed is.

“It’s somewhere for men to come to interact with each other, you don’t have to be good on the tools - we have one guy who comes who has never used a power tool in his life,” Bob said.

“(With this new equipment) we’re able to make more stuff to generate income and keep the shed moving.”

“I’m a Vietnam (War) Veteran, and one of the things with a lot of veterans I know is that they say there’s nothing wrong with me...because they may not be prepared to say they have some health problems.”

Health Research conducted by La Trobe University and the University of Melbourne found major benefits of men’s sheds include decreasing social isolation, and providing a mediating structure between the ‘everyday world of men’ and the health care system.

The shed has been in its current form for just over 10 years and has around 10 members who attend either Tuesdays or Thursdays. They make a range of timber-made goods, including the current project of a Jigsaw Organiser, to be used at the nearby John Martin House community centre.

Arthur Read formed the original men’s shed around 20 years ago thanks to support from the Knights of the Southern Cross, said it’s remarkable to see the shed continuing.

“We get the satisfaction of doing something we enjoy, and making things that help people,” Arthur said.

“We’ve helped other residents with little things around their home and it’s very rewarding.”

Click here to learn more about the Southern Cross Care Community Foundation.