Expansion to help build on shed’s success

Donnybrook Men’s Shed members have been enjoying a hot cuppa and lots of activities in their new shed which was officially opened in early October.

The idea to expand came about last year when members realised there were too many machines in one shed.

“It got to a point where it was becoming too dangerous and we thought it was time we expanded,” Florio Da Re said.

“We received some funding from the community and between all of the members we put in about 2000 hours since January which kept our costs right down.”

Sitting alongside the existing machinery shed and the woodwork shed at the Egan Park precinct in Donnybrook, the new shed is home to 50 members and will be shared with two other community groups.

“With all of the space we have now the Donnybrook Veteran Car Club and the Donnybrook Community Garden committee will be able to have meetings here,” Geoff Box said.

“The public have been very good to our shed over the years and help us out and so in return we try to give back any way we can.”

The inception of the Donnybrook men’s shed came from a morning tea in August 1997 where five veterans gathered to see how they all were going. The group focuses on woodwork, making chairs, coffee tables, boxes and other items on request from the community. It recently introduced a workshop for women.