Selwyn_Times: June 21, 2023

Selwyn Times Wednesday June 21 2023
10 NEWS
•Watch the video at starnews.co.nz
Men’s shed tooled up to
work for the community
Every Monday and
Tuesday a group of
older blokes gather for
a catch up – and not
at the pub. Reporter
Daniel Alvey went
along to find out what
they get up to
HAMMERS banging, saws
humming and lathes rotating –
and the smell of sawdust in the
air.
That’s the atmosphere Lincoln
Men’s Shed member Alan King
has come to know and love.
The men’s shed is a hive
activity two days a week, one of
many up and down the country
serving the community.
The volunteers assist with
projects and
repair items
for residents.
About 75
volunteers like
King make it
all happen –
and National
Volunteer
Week, which
Alan King
runs until
Saturday, is a
time to value their contributions.
For much of his life, King
was on the road as a sales rep.
Apart from working part-time
at Lincoln Hammer Hardware
before retiring, he had little
experience on the tools.
That all changed when he
joined the men’s shed four years
ago.
“I joined after I finished
working at the local hardware
shop (and) got to meet a lot
of the guys through working
there and they suggested I come
along,” King said.
The men’s shed accepts
people with any skill level from
complete novices to someone
who has been a tradesman or
engineer.
“It’s a great fellowship and even
if you haven’t got any experience
. . . the guys here are prepared to
help you.”
When King joined, he had to
overcome a bit of a “learning
curve” but was able to up-skill
himself.
“There are little things at
home that I’ll attempt at home
by myself that I wouldn’t have
attempted before because I
thought I’d make a mess of it.
“At least now I know I can try
it and, if I don’t get right, I can
bring it down here (to the men’s
shed) and get it fixed again.”
King enjoys handing a
completed project over to his
customer.
“It is satisfying for me to
know that I’m part of it and to
be able to follow someone else’s
instructions and do a job that I’d
never thought I’d be able to do.
“One of the projects I
particularly remember is a set
of drawers that a gentleman
brought in. They were in a pretty
tatty sought of condition. It had
come off one of the early ships
that had arrived in New Zealand.
“Working with Andrew
(another member) we came
up with a pretty good finished
product at the end of it.
It also gets him out of the
house for a few hours a day.
“Sometimes (my wife) tells
me it’s time you went the to the
shed,” King said.
The creation of men’s shed was
instigated by a large donation of
tools and machinery from the
late Gerard McCarthy to Lincoln
Rotary in 2013.
In 2018 McCarthy was made
a life member of the men’s shed
and the workshop was named
after him.
To get the shed up and
running, Lincoln Rotary
called on local carpenter John
Doocey.
He helped set up the
incorporated society and had
the shed built. He served as the
PHOTO: JOHN
SPURDLE
ON THE JOB: Alastair Smithies working on a project at the Lincoln Men’s Shed. Below – An
old rocking horse Alan King helped to restore.
men’s shed’s chairman from
when it was set up until 2019
when current chair Alastair
Smithies took over.
Said Doocey: “We were
originally donated two double
garages.
“We discovered they weren’t
going to meet the needs of the
shed so they were sold and we set
about raising funds to build the
first 20m x 10m shed.”
It was built in 2016. Doocey
is happy with the growth of
the group, which now has 75
members.
EXPANSION:
The new
Lincoln
Men’s Shed
workshop
on the left
connects to
the original
workshop on
the right.
PHOTO:
AYESHA
HARNETT
‘My answer is are
we allowed to
join the country
women’s institute?’
– John Doocey on
women joining the
Lincoln Men’s Shed
“It was my dream once I got
in control to see a shed that we
could be proud of and I think we
have achieved that.
“It’s very good to see it
growing like it is and all the guys
that are joining are really good,
very communicative and we mix
well,” Doocey said.
The growing membership
prompted the group to double
the footprint of its shed to
include a meeting room and
kitchen for those essential tea
breaks.
Said Smithies: “There were
two things – it was rising
membership numbers as well as
the space inside wasn’t sufficient
for what we needed.”
Smithies said the workshop
expansion vastly improved the
space.
“We had our little tea room
squeezed into one corner and
our engineering workshop in
another corner it was just a bit
chaotic.”
They have been able to
turn out some good work in
the expanded workshop,
including a current project
making benches for the Lincoln
Bowling Club.
“We’re using timber salvaged
from a bridge on the Little River
Rail Trail.”
The group is also well-liked by
the community, especially when
members only ask customers to
pay for the materials used and a
small cost to cover overheads like
electricity.
Much of the men’s shed’s
funding comes from donations
and community grants.
The shed operates on Monday
and Tuesday afternoons, but
Smithies would like to see the
hours extended.
“I would like to see it open
three maybe four days a week
. . . and maybe on a Saturday or
an evening so people that are not
retired, working, can still come.”
Smithies said the shed has
become a place for men to gather
and talk to other men.
“We think it provides a great
opportunity for men to speak
to men, have conversations
that only men have within
themselves.”
And what about women
joining? Doocey says: “My
answer is are we allowed to join
the country women’s institute?”
•Volunteers run the show,
page 16