AUSTRALIA’S first multicultural men’s shed will have its launch in Springvale this Friday.
The event at Maxim Saigon Restaurant will also raise funds to have the shed’s doors open by mid next year.
Paperbark Ward councillor Roz Blades said the project’s momentum had come from Springvale Uniting Church Reverend Paul Creasy and the parish.
“Many identified a need,” she said.
“It will be life-changing. It’s all-inclusive. It will be the only multicultural men’s shed in the country.”
Cr Blades said it would tackle depression and isolation by uniting men who were “in the same boat” and providing them with vocational training and connecting them with other cultures.
“You put two women at a bus stop and you’ve got their whole life stories,” she said.
“Men don’t do that. We’ve got to adapt to what their needs are.”
Reverend Creasey is providing the land behind the church for the shed and said men from multicultural backgrounds were often left out of traditional men’s sheds.
“This shed will be specifically designed to deal with different ethnic groups around Springvale and surrounds,” he said.
“We will try to engage men with different types of programs like health and cooking.”
Springvale Uniting Church’s Mary Gardiner said the team had purchased a de-mountable classroom that would be on-site early next year.
They’re now looking for donations and grants to refurbish the room and run programs, and hope to open it mid next year.
“That’s probably quite optimistic, but you have to be,” she said.
Retired AMES manager Sam Navarria said the men this shed would target were not attending other men’s sheds.
“This could be the connection to the community for them,” he said.
The Springvale Multicultural Men’s Shed launch is at Maxim Saigon Restaurant, Level 1/17 Balmoral Avenue, Springvale, from 7pm on Friday 30 November.
The night will feature a Chinese/Vietnamese seven-course banquet, raffles, door prizes and live multicultural entertainment. Tickets are $50 a head.
To contribute to the project or for more information, call Roz Blades on 0417 053 612 or 9701 5821, or Youhorn Chea on 0412 338 180 or 9547 5745.
