Dear UK Shedders,
Greetings to you all from our tiny Island of Tasmania located almost at the bottom of the world – just under the mainland of Australia. It’s a beautiful and diverse Island, which has similarities to England. Our population hovers at around 550,000. However, following the arrival of Covid-19, Tasmania has become a very desirable place to live, being viewed as safe, with clean air and an abundance of fine local produce. Many of our Sheds boast thriving community gardens.
Last year, we all experienced unprecedented times which remain with us. While our Island home provides us with a degree of comfort, we were locked down rather quickly like the rest of the world. Nothing could prepare any of us for this. During this time we changed the way we communicated with our Member Sheds and their Members. We started reaching out to Sheds globally and joined in on some International webinars. We have certainly all been thinking about Shedders in parts of the world that have not been as lucky as us – wishing we could do something to help.
We send our sincere condolences to all that will be a feeling a great sense of loss at the end of an era – Prince Philip’s passing.
The Summer edition of our publication ‘Shed News’ – featured Prince Philip on the cover. The photo was taken during one of his visits to Tasmania many years ago and the President of our Penguin Men’s Shed Darryl Barker is also in the photo.
We send our sincere condolences to all that will be a feeling a great sense of loss at the end of an era – Prince Philip’s passing.
Now for a little about us – the Tasmanian Men’s Shed Association has been running for 11 years and we are the Peak Body for Men’s Sheds in Tasmania. One of our Member Sheds is right up there in being the oldest Shed in Australia, which Shed actually is Australia’s oldest is always up for debate!
We have 63 Men’s and Community Sheds that are Members of our Association
Right now, we have 63 Men’s and Community Sheds that are Members of our Association. This changes from time to time and we would estimate having approximately 2,500 Shed Members. It’s always a challenge trying to keep across just how many Shedders there are at any given time!
All Sheds are different as are the reasons for men choosing to join a Shed. Some are transitioning into retirement, some have relocated and find that Shed life is a great way of making new friends. There are those that find themselves isolated and lonely for any number of reasons – and this seems to be one of the main reasons why so many of our Sheds are expanding. Apart from being able to learn a new skill or pass your skills on to others – Shed life provides one of the best and most unique ways of keeping men connected with other men and their communities.
We are lucky to live on an Island that provides some of the most beautiful timbers in the world resulting in some pretty amazing wood turning and products coming out of our Sheds.
We are lucky to live on an Island that provides some of the most beautiful timbers in the world resulting in some pretty amazing wood turning and products coming out of our Sheds. Also, given our maritime history, we have a number of Sheds that specialise in boat building. But on the whole – the focus of our Sheds and their Members is to give back to their communities finding purpose in doing so, while continuing to look out for each other.
We look forward to hearing from you and finding out all about the UK Shed movement. Maybe one day when the world returns to some sort of ‘normal’ we could start our own Global Shed Tours! Until then we will continue to communicate in the old fashioned way. Click the images below to enlarge and scroll.
The Tasmanian Men’s Shed Association would warmly welcome any visiting UK Shedders if they should find themselves in Tassie at any time once we can travel safely again.
Cheers from down under – Tasmanian Men’s Shed Association