Men's shed

The Men's Shed in Jedburgh
An old railway goods shed in Australia, now the Grenfell Men's Shed

Men's sheds or community sheds are non-profit local organisations that provide a space for craftwork and social interaction. The movement originated in Australia around the 1980s as a way to improve the health and wellbeing of older men. However some have expanded their remit to anyone regardless of age or gender, and have similar aims and functions to hackerspaces. There are over 900 located across Australia, with thousands of active members.[1] Men's sheds can also be found in the United Kingdom, Ireland, United States, Canada, Finland, Estonia, New Zealand and Greece.

The slogan for men's sheds is "Shoulder To Shoulder", shortened from "Men don't talk face to face, they talk shoulder to shoulder", adopted after the 2008 Australian Men's Shed Association (AMSA) conference.[2][3] The users of men's sheds are known as "shedders".[4] In 2014, Professor Barry Golding coined the term "shedagogy" to describe "a distinctive, new way of acknowledging, describing and addressing the way some men prefer to learn informally in shed-like spaces mainly with other men."[5] Sheds as a venue for mentoring other men and Inter-generational mentoring is a growing outcome.[6][7][8] Academics are using men's sheds as a research venue and research partner in exploring men's health and social needs.[9][10][11][12]

  1. ^ "What is a Men's Shed". MensShed.org. Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  2. ^ Barry Golding (2015). The Men's Shed Movement: The Company of Men. Common Ground Publishing. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-61229-787-3.
  3. ^ Marion Bowl; Robert Tobias; Jennifer Leahy; Graeme Ferguson; Jeffrey Gage (5 March 2013). Gender, Masculinities and Lifelong Learning. Routledge. p. 130. ISBN 978-1-136-29473-0.
  4. ^ Barry Golding (2015). The Men's Shed Movement: The Company of Men. Common Ground Publishing. p. 38. ISBN 978-1-61229-787-3. Ruth van Herk from Lane Cove Men's Shed in Sydney claims credit for the word 'shedders' as she used it 'very early in the history' in presentations and in the written word.
  5. ^ Schmidt-Hertha, Bernhard; Krašovec, Sabina Jelenc; Formosa, Marvin, eds. (2014). Learning across generations in Europe: contemporary issues in older adult education. Rotterdam, The Netherlands. pp. 31, 102. ISBN 978-94-6209-902-9. OCLC 897575062.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ^ Cordier, Reinie; Wilson, Nathan J. (1 May 2014). "Mentoring at Men's Sheds: an international survey about a community approach to health and well-being". Health & Social Care in the Community. 22 (3): 249–258. doi:10.1111/hsc.12076. ISSN 1365-2524. PMID 24199944.
  7. ^ Wilson, Nathan J.; Cordier, Reinie; Wilson Whatley, Lisa (1 December 2013). "Older male mentors' perceptions of a Men's Shed intergenerational mentoring program". Australian Occupational Therapy Journal. 60 (6): 416–426. doi:10.1111/1440-1630.12090. ISSN 1440-1630. PMID 24299481.
  8. ^ Cordier, Reinie; Wilson, Nathan J.; Stancliffe, Roger J.; MacCallum, Judith; Vaz, Sharmila; Buchanan, Angus; Ciccarelli, Marina; Falkmer, Torbjorn S. (1 November 2016). "Formal intergenerational mentoring at Australian Men's Sheds: a targeted survey about mentees, mentors, programmes and quality". Health & Social Care in the Community. 24 (6): e131–e143. doi:10.1111/hsc.12267. ISSN 1365-2524. PMID 26285782.
  9. ^ Shand, Fiona L.; Proudfoot, Judy; Player, Michael J.; Fogarty, Andrea; Whittle, Erin; Wilhelm, Kay; Hadzi-Pavlovic, Dusan; McTigue, Isabel; Spurrier, Michael (1 October 2015). "What might interrupt men's suicide? Results from an online survey of men". BMJ Open. 5 (10): e008172. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2015-008172. ISSN 2044-6055. PMC 4611172. PMID 26474936.
  10. ^ Hansji, Neeraj L.; Wilson, Nathan J.; Cordier, Reinie (1 May 2015). "Men's Sheds: enabling environments for Australian men living with and without long-term disabilities". Health & Social Care in the Community. 23 (3): 272–281. doi:10.1111/hsc.12140. ISSN 1365-2524. PMID 25428844.
  11. ^ Fildes, Dave; Cass, Yona; Wallner, Frank; Owen, Alan (25 September 2010). "Shedding light on men: the Building Healthy Men Project". Journal of Men's Health. 7 (3): 233–240. doi:10.1016/j.jomh.2010.08.008. ISSN 1875-6867.
  12. ^ Culph, Jennifer S.; Wilson, Nathan J.; Cordier, Reinie; Stancliffe, Roger J. (1 October 2015). "Men's Sheds and the experience of depression in older Australian men". Australian Occupational Therapy Journal. 62 (5): 306–315. doi:10.1111/1440-1630.12190. ISSN 1440-1630. PMID 26061865.