Category: Archive

An Australian-born men’s health movement is making its way to City of Coquitlam.

The concept behind the growing Men’s Shed movement is to give men of all ages a place where they can socialize and work on projects of their choosing.

The idea began in Australia but quickly spread to New Zealand, Ireland and the United Kingdom before making its way to Canada.

The first Men’s Shed in Canada was started four years ago in Winnipeg, and now has about 51 members.

Members meet twice a week to play card games, go for walks and work on projects, among other things, said Doug Mackie, founder and chair of Men’s Sheds Manitoba.

“The highest rate of completed suicide in Canada are men 67 or older,” Mackie said. “And why do they do this? Because they stop working, they no longer have a paycheque, they’re underfoot at home, they feel that they’re not worth as much as they were before.”

The Men’s Shed gives men a place to talk openly about anything they want, Mackie said.

“They know that they can come every Tuesday afternoon and there’s going to be some camaraderie, there’s going to be some kidding… It allows for open conversation,” he said. “If you don’t, then you’re less happy, your mentality can deteriorate because you’re not able to have an open discussion.”

Meanwhile in Coquitlam, it is still early days. The shed has less than a dozen members, who meet once every two weeks. Their initial goal is to get enough members to form a non-profit society, and then go after some funding. Later they hope to get a place of their own, where they can work on projects, meet for coffee and talk.

“Our last meeting was in Blue Mountain Park, where we met and did some wood carving. It is a good opportunity to get out of the house and meet others,” said one member. “Next meeting we are going to visit the Coquitlam Amateur Radio Club.”

Coquitlam Men’s Shed Meeting of 11th. August.

This meeting was in Blue Mountain Park, the weather was beautiful and we were in the shade of the trees. What a pleasant setting.

At this meeting we were joined by a new member, Paul Cook. Paul is a ham radio operator and he has invited us to have our next meeting at their facility on the Riverview grounds.

After brief introductions we got out the tools and started carving. Miraculously no blood was shed. Working at something while talking certainly adds a dimension to the meeting, I have the beginnings of a carved walking stick, Duncan has the beginnings of a spoon but I fear he may go hungry if he is expecting to use it any time soon. Paul didn’t divulge what he is creating. Thanks to Doug Mackies for the walking stick idea.

One nice thing about carving in the park was that we really didn’t have to do any clean up, just brushed everything onto the floor and you couldn’t tell the difference.

As promised on Thursday evening we delivered the sticks and wood we had picked up at Kawkawa Lake. The guys at the Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House were most appreciative. In turn they invited us to share a traditional Sri Lankan meal cooked by Aruna. Great food and interesting conversation. This group has someone cook a traditional meal from their culture every month. Maybe we should adopt this idea at the Coquitlam Men’s Shed.

Aruna and Lamin are going to try and make it to our meeting on Tuesday 11th. August 2015. Weather permitting this meeting will be in Blue Mountain Park, by the tennis courts. You are welcome to join us. If the weather does not permit, we will meet in Mackin House at King Edward and Brunette.

All the best.

 Mike.

It’s been a busy week or so.

Doug Mackies was able to come to our last meeting. I think of Doug as Mr Men’s Shed Canada, he started the first Men’s Shed in North America in Winnipeg. Doug’s enthusiasm for Men’s Sheds is infectious. He is also a founder member of the Coquitlam Men’s Shed.

Doug had visited with some people from the Mount Pleasant Community House in Vancouver where they have a men’s group. He suggested that they might consider making walking sticks as a way to get started with a project. Walking sticks don’t require a lot of equipment but you do need the sticks and there isn’t much forest in the middle of Vancouver so he asked us if we could provide the sticks.

We were planning to visit the Hope Men’s Shed which is situated in 20 acres of forest so we were glad to undertake a little logging.

Hope Men’s Shed is situated on Kawkawa Lake just east of Hope, beautiful. Their hospitality left nothing to be desired. We left with a trunk load of potential walking sticks and there were still a few trees standing so we have an excuse to return and harvest the rest.

While he was on the west coast Doug also visited Kirkland House in Ladner. This century old house has been renovated by a group of volunteers; they have done a spectacular job, see http://www.kirklandhouse.ca

The sticks will be delivered to Mount Pleasant this evening but we have held a few back. If you can make it to our next meeting, which is in Blue Mountain Park at 10am on the 11th August 2015, you may be able to have one for yourself.

The bottom line is, it has given us great pleasure to collaborate with these other, existing and potential, Men’s Sheds.

Mike Jennings.

6th. August 2015

Men who are retired or are just getting started can go from working lives and good health to retirement and possibly poor health. They can experience sadness and depression that typically will go untreated. This is so because in large part, we men are less communicative about our problems than women.

If you know a man who is in this position and is floundering with what to do, please send him our way. The men’s shed is a place where he can find a new purpose in his life. Working together with others on worthwhile projects can help give new meaning in his life. It can improve his health and well being, and give him a support network.

Our men’s shed is new in Coquitlam, BC, and we are getting ourselves established. Which means the first worthwhile project is the men’s shed itself. Our first goal is to get enough members to create a society. Then we can go after funding and a regular place to meet.

If you don’t know what this is about, check out our [color-button href=’/links’]links[/color-button] section and learn more about the men’s shed movement. It really does make a difference in the lives of men. It could help the man in your life.

In talking with folks from another men’s shed, we learned the biggest source of new members is women, who care about their men. Thus our appeal here.

We are currently holding meetings every 2 weeks. We publish our meetings in advance on this site. You can either send him along or [color-button href=’/contact’]contact us[/color-button]