Men's Sheds

I'm not much of a joiner and don't really go for the "man" stuff but for those who do this sounds like it might not be a bad thing.

The first men's shed opened twenty years ago in a borrowed room in the farming town of Tongala, Australia.   

It was an experiment — an attempt at dealing with a growing health crisis. Older men, prone to isolation, despair and depression, have a very high suicide rate. 

Today, there are more than 2,000 Men's Sheds across Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and Great Britain. Seventeen in five Canadian provinces.  

In Men's Sheds, there are no rule-books, no funny uniforms, and no expectations. Just a bunch of guys in a bit of the same boat.        

Producer David Gutnick was recently in Winnipeg where he visited the Woodhaven Men's Shed 

[Listen to the report from the CBC here]

It could hardly be more simple. Every Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon, a couple of dozen older guys make their way to a room in a Winnipeg community centre.   

There are folding chairs and tables. A coffee pot, playing cards, a couple of cribbage boards, bundles of dried willow branches and cottonwood bark, a box full of carving knives and paint brushes. 

A bowl of water gets put on the floor for Comet the dog, and a hand-painted sign is taped up on the door for newcomers: Men's Sheds of Manitoba.  

It sounds a lot like the knitting group one of my oldest friends started only for men.  I like the idea that it's not run by some kind of professional (with some kind of psych degree)  not structured and not demanding and it sounds cheap enough that they could be started all over the place.   I doubt I'd go to one but there are probably a lot of men in my age group who would get a lot out of it.