Men's Sheds Edmonton A Work in Progress

A sample logo....keep looking

Why we need a Shed or Sheds in Edmonton?

• High unemployment rate.
• Lots of newly retired men with time on their hands.
• Participation at Seniors Centres is 80% women. 
• As senior couples downsize men often lose their workshops or hobby areas. 
• Not all men want to be in Service Clubs. 
• Alberta suicide rate up 30%, province looking for answers

What are we doing?

• Talking to key policy influencers such as Councillor Scott McKeen who is responsible for a Councillor's Initiative Urban Isolation/Mental Health
• Talking to city staff regarding existing services, funding and space availability
• Visited the Camrose Men's Shed to see the kind of space they had and see first hand some of the projects they have taken on.
• Discussing the pros and cons of the administrative structure surrounding a Shed.
  
• Examining the scope of Sheds that could be possible in Edmonton; traditional Shed, Nerd Shed (focus on all things computerish), Sheds by Culture, Sheds for the old guys, Sheds for younger men, Inter-generational Sheds, A Shed for the Homeless, geographically distributed Sheds, a Mobile Shed and of course the "pilot shed".
• Potential partners in Edmonton Sheds
• Types of hands on projects that could be undertaken
• Thinking positively , a rollout plan for Sheds
• Creating a Vision for Edmonton's Men's Sheds
• Bringing sample groups of men together to talk about where they are at and what they would like to see happen
• Process, process, process........"organic development" (Camrose Men's Shed)

Kate’s Questions

1.    What's the basis for your interest in starting Men's Shed ? 

Were you retired and wanted to establish a program for retired men, or did you want it for men of all ages and experience.

Before I retired I was intrigued by the new movement in Australia that had been spawned by the high rate of suicide and depression in pre-retirees and those already in retirement.

I saw high rates of suicide and depression in the Alberta statistics, not only in the retirement group but also in younger men caught in oil field cutbacks, facing unemployment.

I thought the Australian model might work in Alberta but there were few examples in Canada. I went and talked to Doug Mackie in Winnipeg about his Men’s Shed in Woodhaven and came away convinced that Edmonton could undertake the challenge of developing an urban Men’s Shed.

2.    How did you know about it. I understand it started in Australia.

Sometime before I retired in 2009 I saw an article about the Men’s Shed movement in Australia and how it had spread to Ireland, England and was moving into Scotland.

3.    In a nutshell, how did you and Michael approach Amanda about starting Men's Shed, and what ensued from there.

We had been talking with SAGE about their potential involvement in the rollout of Men’s Sheds in Edmonton. Amanda was working with SAGE and asked Michael and I to go out to talk with a group of men involved with her Community league.

It didn’t take long for the men to get the point from the videos we showed. We tried to make the point that Men’s Sheds could be what ever they wanted it to be. They saw the connection to the Community league and through the Community League to men in their community. They saw the Shed concept involving men of all ages.

Amanda saw her role as a facilitator, coach for the group and a compass to remind them to reach out into the community. Amanda works hard to balance her SAGE focus on Seniors with this initiative.

OTHER

Early on in my quest to see Men’s Sheds evolve in Edmonton I approached Councillor Scott McKeen as he was responsible for the Urban Isolation/Mental Health initiative. Councillor McKeen got the Men’s Shed concept right away and encouraged me to work with City staff already working on his initiative.

I had met Michael Hoyt through his work with Men Edmonton and other projects focused on men’s mental health and violence against women.

Zanette Frost, who worked on McKeen’s Urban Isolation/Mental Health initiative, organized a trip to see the Camrose Men’s Shed project. The Camrose project was anchored in the Community Museum where the group had meeting space and access to workspace.

On the trip home, our group talked about all the ways the Edmonton Men’s Sheds could evolve. It could be top down with a model Shed put in place or it could grow from a grass roots demand for a shed. It could partner with any number of existing groups like Habitant for Humanity, the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues, the Abundant Community Project, one or more of Edmonton’s Seniors Centres, a Service Club like Rotary or one of the many Cultural Centres.

It became obvious that a Men’s Shed could be anything it wanted to be based on the men involved. It could focus on woodworking, technology (repairing computers for Seniors or new Canadians), hobbies, gardening……

Progress has been slow, and the small group has probably just about talked itself to death. The key questions stalling progress are:

·         Are we sure there is a need?

·         Should it be an organic evolution or a “hot house” project?
Should a model Men’s Shed be developed to act as a demo site?

·         There is a need for several types of people to be involved; planners, policy framers and on the ground doers.

·         Is there a need for a core Men’s Shed organization to coordinate/supply resource support to sheds that follow the organic process?

·         There is a need to create a rollout framework for Edmonton.

·         There is a need for some seed money that could be used for a temporary office, contract dollars to support planning and training.