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Men's Sheds Across the World

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SHED STORIES 

July 2025


The Storyteller

in July 2024 the Alberta Men's Sheds Association contracted Lorna Dancey, an experienced Storyteller, to visit Men's Sheds across Alberta and interview men about the impact the Men's Shed was having on their lives. 

Here are links to several of the stories.

 

  • Bill Diprose - The Shed – More Than Just Projects https://www.albertamenssheds.ca/shed-stories/bill-diprose-the-shed-more-than-just-projects

 

Brent Collins – Finding a New Direction at the Olds Men's Shed https://www.albertamenssheds.ca/shed-stories/brent-collins-finding-a-new-direction-at-the-olds-men-s-shed

If you want to read more of these stories follow this link https://www.albertamenssheds.ca/men-s-stories-1

Lorna Dancey didn't take the interviews lightly and soon she was more than eager to visit new Sheds and see the ties being built between the men and the men and  their communities.

 

Along the Way: Stories of Connection
The Sheds Gave Me Something I Didn’t Know I Needed


A reflection by Lorna Dancey
Earlier this year, I was commissioned by Alberta Men’s Shed to travel across the province, visiting 10 Sheds to document the stories of men whose lives had been changed by these spaces.
I walked in ready to observe, listen, and photograph.
What I didn’t expect was how deeply I’d feel it.
Before the handshakes, the coffee, and the warmth of the room, there was a smell that stopped me in my tracks:
Sawdust.
My dad was a carpenter.
He came home six days a week, tired, wooden pencil tucked behind his ear, tool belt slumped by the door.
He didn’t teach me how to use the tools. He was always working.
But he taught me how to build a life with heart.
He passed away 14 years ago.
But every time I walked into a Shed, I felt him there.
Not speaking. Just present.
Like he had arrived ahead of me to say:
“You’re exactly where you’re meant to be.”
Over three months, I met more than 40 men.
Each carried a story, some shared with words, others in silence.
Some had lost partners. Some had lost careers.
Some were slowly losing pieces of themselves to illness, memory, or time.
But what they all longed for was the same:
To be seen again. To be useful again. To belong again.
Men’s Sheds aren’t just about fixing things.
They’re about camaraderie, purpose, and having a safe place to simply be yourself.
A place where men feel seen, heard, and valued without pressure to perform or pretend.
In between sanding, sorting, and sipping coffee, these men were laughing, listening, and opening up about grief, resilience, and joy.
And in those conversations, often quiet, always honest, something shifted in me too.
By being with them, I was reminded of what truly matters:
To slow down.
To notice what I rush past.
To make time for what I love and who I love.
To remember that in a world that glorifies productivity, presence is the real currency.
These men didn’t give advice.
They showed me with how they show up for each other.
And now I carry this with me:
Sometimes, when you walk into a room that smells like sawdust,
the people you’ve loved aren’t gone.
They’re still with you in scent, in memory, in the stories you collect along the way.
Maybe this is how my dad teaches me now.
In the stillness he never had.
In the slowing down he never gave himself.
In the time I’m finally learning to make.
He didn’t teach me how to use his tools.
But somehow, through this, he’s showing me how to live.
Thank you to Alberta Men’s Shed and the fellows across the province who welcomed me with laughter, trust, and truth.
Keep building each other up.
The tools of human connection are the most important tools we have.
With gratitude,
Lorna Dancey
For more information or to read some of the stories, go to: albertamenssheds.ca









 

  

Files coming soon.

Shed Stories Section Two

Australia

 

Cairns women's shed opens as sector ponders its future                                                                                                              https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-25/cairns-womens-shed-opens-as-sector-ponders-its-future/105569834

 

Men’s Shed helps its Taree brothers. The strong bonds that connect men’s sheds across Australia has been  demonstrated by the Yungaburra group who will donate $1000 to their Taree brothers.                                                                                                  https://www.theexpressnewspaper.com.au/men-s-shed-helps-its-taree-brothers-2025-07-25


UK


Shoulder to Shoulder July 2025 Newsletter

https://mailchi.mp/ukmsa.org.uk/shoulder-to-shoulder-july-2025?e=545983d09f

 

  •  Heading for finals at Scottish Men's Shed of the Year Awards 2025 - Inverness Courier 
  •  Top award as St Andrews Men's Shed reaches major milestone - Fife Today 
  •   Houston and Killellan Men's Shed crowned best in the region - The Renfrewshire Gazette  


Ireland


Irish Men's Sheds Newsletter (latest

https://mailchi.mp/e0ab81effc63/imsa-news-6421923?e=0f13ec097d


   Flourishing women's shed movement denied Government funding

 Mr Calleary said he was committed to providing any support he could for  the development of a national governing body for women’s sheds. 

 

NZ

New Zealand Men's Shed Association

https://menzshed.org.nz/


Mens Shed Auckland East 

https://menzshed.org.nz/auckland-east/?fbclid=IwY2xjawL2GPdleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFwT1dHN1VZSU01cXlVOVNlAR7ZSv0u3WMif1uualH7-UP_CFXBv23mRdbXhjTz3A5ouGBkbN_vhIP502iQaw_aem_rw1af6cFiqZ2Vt5uocltig

 

Canada

Men's Sheds Canada 

https://mensshedscanada.ca/


Alberta Men's Sheds Association - 

https://www.albertamenssheds.ca


Burlington Ontario Men's Shed Newsletter 

https://mailchi.mp/1e8b0bae3849/shed-talk-january-31st-8346349

    

 

Welcome to Alouette Men's Shed https://alouettemensshed.ca/

Alouette Newsletter - May https://us21.campaign-archive.com/?e=__test_email__&u=c570aaf2b6475af711b0026c7&id=d1b267988b


 Westlock explores launch of Men's Shed to boost mental health and connection 

  Westlock hopes to join 40+ Alberta towns with a Men’s Shed to support  men’s health and community connection through shared projects. 



Files coming soon.

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