What is a Men's Shed?
At its most fundamental level, a Men’s Shed is a group of men bound together by the common desire for camaraderie and purpose beyond one's individual capabilities. The Shed can take on many different forms though the most common form is that of a workshop-type space where men can tinker with their hands to their own enjoyment and can work on larger-scale projects together for the benefit of the community. Some examples of projects include building community garden beds, building bird houses for seniors' housing complexes, or changing oil for low income families.
Why here?
The Men's Shed has spread from its Australian origins in the '90s to span across several continents since then. It is alive and well within Canada and even British Columbia throughout various regions; however, there is one glaring omission within the Men's Shed BC network: Greater Victoria...
Until Now.
Why now?
If anyone living in Victoria, BC were to pause for a moment and reflect on how life has changed in our culture over the past 4+ years, it would not take long to focus on how much more socially isolated individuals have become over that timespan and longer. Additionally, men more generally, have a propensity to isolate themselves. These 2 phenomena, taken together, are the clarion call for the Men's Shed: to bring men together using methods that have long stood the test of time and transcended parochial cultures.
History
The men's shed movement originated in Australia. Maxine Chaseling came up with the idea of a men's shed after her own father had become depressed and felt stuck at home after having a heart attack and not being able to work anymore. She noticed that the only thing that seemed to give her father purpose was to work in his shed. Applying this observation at a larger scale, she created a shed-space for other older men that she worked with through her employment at a local centre focused on providing services for the elderly. The idea caught on fire and the rest is history.