There are 450+ of these on the island and I've been going to one for a year now. It's fairly casual in that anyone (adult) can show up for tae and bickies, bit of a chat – the bar's very low in terms of participation. I'm not aware of any women looking to join, but guessing they'd be welcome. What we've got is supported by the great work of several fantastic ladies. It's mostly auld lads having the craic doing woodwork pieces where I go.

It's the time of year for applying for project funding, with several deadlines over the next month – any ideas, please? I'm thinking maybe a couple of laptops to teach some computing skills (to Anyone interested, could be off-site). GRMA.

Can we get a 'Society' flair please?

https://menssheds.ie
https://sistersheds.ie
Thanks u/Dubmess

by theeglitz

28 comments

  1. I know one of the lads in our local men’s shed is an ex chef who taught the lads how to cook. Could be a great one for the lads who aren’t too confident in the kitchen?

  3. How about a transport budget to help bring isolated people who can’t otherwise get there? My local shed only has meetings in the evenings, after our rural buses have stopped. Afternoon meetings would be nice, too.

  4. My local one only has stuff during normal work hours. Guess it is just targeted to retired lads.

  5. Hello! Work for a council administering one of these schemes, what we’ve been asked for from men’s sheds is: laptops, printers, scanners, fertiliser, salt boxes, high-vis vests, gardening equipment, storage, books, furniture. Also, if we’re thinking of the same scheme (LEP), remember you can apply for Current funding this year too.

    Some of that might help, a lot of the ones in our area are very into gardening! 🙂

  6. Pick up an old motorcycle and break it down. Haynes book and away yous go

  7. Well for the auld lads that’s a great call laptops and maybe some cheap smart phones to show em how to use them or something like that, maybe some instruments as well a guitar or fiddle

  8. Soldering Iron and parts? Make Small Electronic Projects to go into the wood working pieces? Or even Electrical stuff? But I’d say a few of the lads there are already handy at that sort of stuff?

  9. There are women sheds dotted around Ireland too
    My mother joined after she retired
    She loves it

  10. Finally convinced my da to go to the local Men’s Shed and he loves it. Down every Wednesday for a game of pool

  11. Not exactly funding but see if you can get some old appliances from the council. Would be good to learn the skills and maybe help out someone needing a cheap washing machine or needing a repair job.

  12. Drawing? 

    I’m like the world’s expert on setting up drawing classes so dm me if you want exhaustively detailed suggestions about what you need and how to do it on a budget. 

  14. Lots of Womens Sheds about too. Springing up everywhere.

  15. Carpentry seems to be a lost art. You can do a fas course (or whatever they’re calling it now) if you’re a young lad. But for adult education? There’s like one or 2 courses in the entire country. Would be great to get some instruction – a few real joinery experts to show up at a men’s shed and give some advice.

  16. I would suggest Desktop/Towers for the simple reason laptops go walkies and then there’s genuine problems with memory.

    You’ll be replacing forgotten power bricks regularly.

    Avoid multifunction printers. It was incredibly frustrating while trying to slowly do a scan for a guy thinking he’s being helpful press buttons on it changing mode.

    I suggest Linux for the simple reason they are then less able to over share via Dropbox or worse Social Engineering asking for TeamViewer to be installed to help them log into their banking.

    As many have failing eyesight show them Ctrl+ and Ctrl- on the browser to resize, and Ctrl0 to reset zoom.

    Be prepared for requests for Internationalisation as someone from abroad wants to communicate in their language.

  17. I’m 60 next month and honestly you couldn’t drag me to a shed full of local GAA chat, whittling and mugs of tea.

    Someone needs to come up with Man Labs aimed at 30 to 61 year olds featuring homemade rockets or Wallace type jam on toast autobots.

    Am I wrong in my perception of these places?

  18. In the North but there was a field to fabric project at a men’s shed which was really successful, it was previously a flax growing area so they’d people who knew what to do along the stages but they grew the flax, processed it and then learned to spin and weave and turned it into a piece of fabric. Really cool. They got funding for it, tutors and the equipment I think.

  19. The men’s shed have been an amazing resource for my Dad. He joined after my Ma died, and he has learned to play guitar. Now the group of them play weekly in the Alzheimer’s Center. The council got them all android tablets so they can have all the songs and sheet music(tabs etc) on there too. Really I think it saved his sanity, I’m so happy they exist.

  20. My mam goes to a women’s shed and she says it does her the world of good. She’s in her 70s, lots of her friends have passed on, kids are all grown up and grandkids getting more independent.

    She does a bit of work for the church to keep busy but other than that if it wasn’t for the women’s shed she’d never get out of the house.

  22. The auld lad retired and was at a bit of a loose end not having to go to work every day. Joined the local shed and having his best life. His social calendar is so full now with activities and trips that he’s never home 😂

  23. I live in sydney but i was home this year for the first time in over 4 years(10 years in aus, had a holiday home about 4 years ago) for a holiday and got to spend some really good quality time with my dad. We were out walking one day and he said ‘thats where the men’s shed is’ and honestly i had no idea what he was talking about. Im living in sydney 10 years, is this a new thing or something? I asked him wtf is a men’s shed and he told me ‘its a place for aul lads like me to get together and have a bit of craic and have some company(my mam died a long time ago and hes alone), and we also fix cars like a mechanic’s garage’.

    It literally fucking melted me because i know hes lonely and has been for a long time but for some reason this kind of put it all into perspective. Hes doing well, just had a 30 minute phonecall with him but its the thoughts of his loneliness that hits me deep in the heart.

    This is an AMAZING thing you people are doing. I dont know what to reccomend or request or whatever but fair fucking play to you people it is beautiful. Maybe just push the fact that it is a very successful mental health initiative with the government and maybe or hopefully you could get more support and/or funding. I would be happy to give a sort of ‘statement’ about how this has helped me and my family.

  25. As a working guy with zero interest in the tea, biscuits, and chat portion, I’m curious if the learning/sharing/doing-a-skill part is the bigger or smaller part of a typical meeting.

  26. How about a 3D printer. I have a small one that comes in handy for printing all kinds of small plastic replacement parts. You can even download models and print from a phone.

  27. I’m part of a Womens Shed, I absolutely love it so much. Love it so much that I joined the committee!

  28. I do a lot of 3D design and 3D printing as part of my job but also as a hobby (I have a personal printer at home)

    They’re mostly functional parts, I really enjoy the design. I wonder if this would be of any interest in a men’s shed?

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