Focus

A room of their own

Men’s sheds build communities of support and purpose

By Ned Morgan

For many years and in many countries, men have found solace in a backyard shed. But the recent phenomenon of community men’s sheds is as native to Australia as the platypus and the koala. Australian men’s sheds have evolved into a social movement, providing meeting, healing and working spaces for men, including those with mental health issues, or those struggling with social isolation.

“Backyard sheds have always been iconic for many Australian men,” says Dr. Barry Golding, a senior lecturer in the University of Ballarat’s School of Education. “The difference in the case of community sheds is that the activity is there to support, benefit and engage the men.”

Sheds are not overtly therapeutic spaces, although in many cases, mental health agencies have a hand in organizing them. Many sheds aim to attract men who might be reluctant to work on something like their mental health – but want to work with their hands. The shed model is designed not to alienate men who would be hesitant to label themselves “depressed,” let alone seek therapy. “What sheds essentially do is acknowledge that many men have spent their working lives in communities of practice with other men,” says Golding. “In retirement or withdrawal from the workforce through disability, men are often missing part of their working lives, identities and networks. Sheds informally create communities of practice where they can ‘be blokes,’ but where they can also be more aware of the need to look after themselves and other men.”

In 2007, Golding joined a research team to run a government-sponsored survey of men’s sheds for the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER). The number of sheds has been doubling every year for approximately 10 years. By March 2010, there were around 450 sheds established or establishing across Australia.” That makes the Australian Men’s Shed Association (AMSA), representing an estimated 30,000 men, the largest men’s support organization in Australia.

The rise to prominence of men’s sheds was spurred in part by a spike in awareness of men’s health in Australia in the 1990s. According to research released by Beyond Blue, a national depression initiative, the suicide rate in Australia was four times higher in men than women between 1998 and 2002. The study attributed this statistic in part to undiagnosed and untreated depression in men. In 2009, the Australian government began to develop a national men’s health policy, and as part of this effort, launched a senate inquiry into suicide. The newly created AMSA made a submission to the inquiry, noting the vital role sheds can play in reducing isolation and depression. The inquiry will publish its findings this year.

The profile of men’s sheds has never been higher, but shed organizers cannot rely on consistent government funding, either at a federal or state level, although the recent men’s health policy initiatives and the NCVER survey’s positive press may help change this.

That’s the hope of the mental health community. Fremantle Men’s Community Shed, known as Fremanshed, is one of Western Australia’s most prominent. According to program co-ordinator Alan Gowland, sheds are becoming more popular because “local health councils are seeing the benefit to men’s health and well-being.” Gowland designed the Fremanshed’s Men’s Health and Wellbeing pilot project with Monica Nunez, an occupational therapist at the Alma Street Centre, which provides mental health services. They developed the project to help men with mental illness, offering 10-week courses in woodworking, metalwork and other trades.

“It’s a place where you are identified as an individual with skills and craftsmanship, not a place where you are seen as an individual with mental illness.”

Fremanshed originally received a government grant to launch the project, but since the funds have all but dried up, they self-fund by charging a nominal fee and selling a DVD. One of the clients featured in the DVD is cherub-faced Daryl, a man who was “non-functional, unable to go outside, and couldn’t handle public transport or crowds” before his involvement with the shed, says Gowland. The DVD shows Daryl at work making a toy wooden truck with ingenious detail. The truck has become an iconic image, adorning the cover of the DVD. Gowland reports that Daryl now has a part-time job and helps run a toy-making workshop at the Fremanshed. “He has tasted well-being and works hard to keep it happening,” says Gowland.

In New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, a mental health outreach organization has turned to a shed to provide mentoring and positive social interaction for its clients. Rennay Miller is a co-ordinator of the non-profit New Horizons Enterprises and oversees its Recovery and Resource Services program for people with mental illness. New Horizons partnered with Hastings Men’s Shed in early 2008. “It was a relaxed atmosphere, and our clients started to make friends, building social networks,” says Miller. “Many of them had never had contact with positive male role models.” Since many of the shed men were retired and could offer building skills, they fit naturally into a mentoring role.

As a success story, Miller offers that of Dan*, a man in his mid-30s who became depressed and moved in with his parents, holing up in his bedroom. “Once he started connecting with the men’s shed, he was getting up in the morning,” says Miller. “He’s learning how to refurbish bicycles. Later he joined a golf club – the shed gave him the confidence to do that. He also volunteers at a wildlife park.” Dan and the other men collected old bikes from landfills, and with the help of an instructor from a vocational school, learned to refurbish them. They kept a bike each and donated the others to schools.

Given such successes, it’s no surprise that interest in the shed model has spread beyond Australia. Karen Martin, an occupational therapist who now works with an ACT team in Chatham-Kent, Ontario, completed her clinical placement through the University of Western Ontario at another New South Wales shed. Originally set up as a meeting place for retired men, the Berry Men’s Shed now welcomes men – and women – of any age. While health practitioners often refer clients to the shed, many members join simply for the “mateship” and to use the well-appointed wood workshop. “It’s a place where you are identified as an individual with skills and craftsmanship, not a place where you are seen as an individual with mental illness,” says Martin.

Martin found the atmosphere of the shed to be a study in open communication. “Some men preferred to work individually, while others completed projects collaboratively,” she recalls. “When the men worked side by side, they were more willing to open up and discuss issues ranging from personal health concerns to possible family problems.”

When asked whether men’s sheds risk contributing to gender stereotypes, Martin responds that the Berry Shed “has a non-discriminatory policy welcoming men and women of any age. If women were not allowed to be members, it would take away from the purpose of the shed, which symbolizes a place free from stigmatization and discrimination.”

“Many sheds were actually initiated by women,” adds Barry Golding. “And men are often strongly encouraged by their female partners to participate. Sheds are unlike some other mainstream men’s organizations (e.g., sporting clubs) in that they are inclusive, collaborative, caring, non-hierarchical and consultative.”

Although the shed model has not yet been adopted in Canada, Martin believes it holds potential. During her occupational therapy studies in London, she worked at a mission that served men experiencing homelessness, mental illness or addiction. She discovered that the men who kept returning did so because they felt they had lost their support network in the community. “Community-based programs like sheds can assist men transitioning into the community,” says Martin. “They ensure that men maintain a social support system, a key component to recovery.”

* not his real name