David Helmers – Executive Officer – Australian Men’s Shed Association[1]
To use a well-worn phrase, saying that “2020 was a year like no other” is repetitious but appropriate!..
2020 has certainly been unique as the world around us changed dramatically with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In Australia, this also came upon us as many Sheds and their communities were still recovering from bushfires, floods, and continuing drought.
The year 2020 was also a year of many successes for the Australian Men’s Shed movement.
The year certainly demonstrated the resilience of Men’s Sheds and their value in keeping members and communities connected. Men’s Sheds reacted to the changes, showing the true spirit of Australian mateship within the Sheds, as even through isolation they were all looking after each other.
The year 2020 was also a year of many successes for the Australian Men’s Shed movement. The first of which was the introduction of new legislation for Men’s Sheds now having their own category of Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status. This change in Government Legislation has been many years in the making and is a significant milestone for the future sustainability of the broader Shed movement.
AMSA introduced two new initiatives in direct response to the COVID pandemic. The ‘Shed Online’ and the ‘Shed Wireless’ both have been huge successes and will now become valuable assets to AMSA and Sheds which we will be continuing well into the future. The ‘Shed Wireless’ now has an audience of over 12,000 listeners worldwide and is one of the most popular Podcasts in the country.
The ‘Shed Wireless’ now has an audience of over 12,000 listeners worldwide and is one of the most popular Podcasts in the country.
There are now 1157 Men’s Sheds registered with the Australian Men’s Shed Association operating in Australia, the growth of new Sheds has slowed over the past two years indicating that here we are reaching a saturation point. To put it into some perspective though currently there are approximately 150 more Men’s Sheds in Australia than there are MacDonald’s restaurants.
there are approximately 150 more Men’s Sheds in Australia than there are MacDonald’s restaurants.
Men’s Sheds themselves are continuously evolving to become important social assets to their communities, as an organisation founded in 2007 to support the development of Men’s Sheds AMSA has continued to apply many new services to continue to support Men’s Sheds in this evolution.
The Australian Men’s Shed Association is proud of the work we have done to support the development of Men’s Sheds, both nationally and internationally, this support will continue well into the future and a brighter 2021.
Regards
David Helmers
[1] M 0400 729 000 T 1300 550 009
W https://mensshed.org
Email: david@Men’sshed.net
PO Box 793 THE JUNCTION NSW 2291