Barry Golding, as International Men’s Sheds Organisation Convenor
When my book, The Men’s Shed Movement: The Company of Men *** was published in the US two years ago (in 2015) there were 1,325 Men’s Sheds globally, 30 per cent of which were overseas, mainly in Ireland (227), the UK (124) and New Zealand (54).
The first ever Men’s Sheds in a community setting opened less then 20 years ago (in Tongala, Victoria and Lane Cove, NSW in 1998). Given that the global total is (to August 2017) approximately 2,000 Sheds open and operating globally, with more than half of these open outside of Australia, this is becoming a remarkable international movement across at least ten countries.
Maps are available which show the up to date distribution of Men’s Sheds registered with each National Association in:
- Australia: http://mensshed.org/Find-A-Shed
- New Zealand: http://menzshed.org.nz/our-location/
- Ireland: http://menssheds.ie/find-a-shed-map/
- UK: http://menssheds.org.uk/find-a-shed/
State-based Men’s Sheds organisations as well as Zones and Clusters operate within all Australian states as well as through the national Australian Men’s Shed Association (AMSA: www.mensshed.org ). The 2017 AMSA Conference takes place on the Gold Coast (29 Sept -1 Oct) – only 12 years since the first ever ‘national’ gathering in Orbost, Victoria in 2005.
Since 2015 the most rapid, new growth has been across the UK. There are now at least 415 Men’s Sheds open across the UK, with particularly strong growth in many rural areas, particularly in Scotland and Wales. Scotland has its own, robust national association http://scottishmsa.org.uk. The UK Men’s Sheds Association anticipates around 800 Men’s Sheds will be open there within three years (by 2020).
By August 2017 the total number of Men’s Sheds open across the island of Ireland, including those in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, passed 400. The island now has a higher number of Sheds per head of population than in Australia, where the movement originated. It is not only the number of Irish Sheds that is remarkable. It is the incredible diversity of Irish Shed models suited to the specific and different community needs that is remarkable, supported by an innovative and very robust Irish Men’s Sheds Assocation.
As in Australia, the strongest Shed development in most countries has been in smaller, rural towns where there are more older men looking for ‘somewhere to go, something to do and someone to talk with’ in the company of other men, as the late Dick McGowan originally envisaged in Tongala, Victoria exactly 20 years ago.
The three Men’s Sheds recently opened in the US (in Hawaii, Minnesota and Michigan) have recently created the USMSA (http://mensshedsintheusa.weebly.com/. Seventeen Sheds affiliated with the Canadian Men’s Sheds Association (http://menssheds.ca/ are now open across Canada with others soon to open in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec. Eight grassroots Men’s Sheds are now open in Kenya (in Kiambu and Nakura Counties). There are many ‘Sheds’ networked across Denmark under the Mænds Mødesteder (literally ‘men’s meeting places’) banner as a men’s health intervention. Several Men’s Sheds (Męskiej Szopy) have very recently opened also in Poland.
If there any new developments that I may have missed, please let Barry Golding know!
Acknowledgement: Considerable progress was made documenting and supporting the international spread of the Men’s Shed movement in 2015-6 through the generous financial support of AMSA in Australia and IMSA in Ireland, directed through the great work of John Evoy as IMSO Project Officer under the direction of the International Men’s Sheds Organisation (IMSO) steering committee.
*** Getting a copy of the ‘Men’s Shed Movement’ Book
- The 2015 Men’s Shed Movement: The Company of Men book is available for direct purchase in Australia through me for $40 (including postage and GST).
- Elsewhere in the world you can order a copy via the Common Ground Publishing website: US$15 for an electronic (PDF) copy, US$25 for a hard copy, with postage extra: see https://cgscholar.com/bookstore/works/the-mens-shed-movement?category_id=common-ground-publishing
Barry Golding 