Women’s Sheds Internationally to 2024

Michelle Slater, Establishment Chair, Women’s Sheds Australia awsacommittee@gmail.com with Professor Barry Golding as a Women’s Sheds Australia Interim Ambassador

Published 4 October 2024

Women’s Sheds have slowly emerged as a separate and sometimes parallel movement to Men’s Sheds in several countries with Men”s Sheds since 2010.

Professor Barry Golding (from Australia) and Dr Lucia Carragher (from Ireland) created an early online data base of Women’s Sheds internationally https://barrygoanna.com/2020/07/13/womens-sheds/ as a means of connecting and supporting the emerging movement during the movement’s early years to May 2024. With national peak body Women’s Shed organisations coalescing in Australia, Ireland and the UK during 2024, we anticipate this data base be maintained in the future by these emerging national organisations.

Barry Golding and Lucia Carragher summarised the history and development of ‘Women’s Sheds Worldwide’ to 2021 in Chapter 10 of Shoulder to Shoulder: Broadening the Men’s Shed Movement, Common Ground Research Networks, Illinois, pages 319-353: bookvailable for purchase via https://cgscholar.com/bookstore/works/shoulder-to-shoulder ]. They identified 124 Women’s Sheds had opened worldwide to 2021, around one half of which were in Australia, with most of the balance in Ireland or the UK and three in New Zealand.

Barry and Lucia, with Professor Annette Foley published the first peer reviewed journal article about Women’s Sheds in July 2021 called ‘The Women’s Shed movement: Scoping the field internationally’ [Australian Journal of Adult Learning, 61(2 ), pp. 150-174, accessible via http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/180068] Our article includes a proposed typology involving a continuum between men-only Sheds and women-only Sheds with many other possible combinations of Shed names, participants and locations.

What follows is a light edited summary contributed by Michelle Slater as Establishment Chair, Women’s Sheds Australia about how the Women’s Shed movement is travelling in Australia and internationally to late 2024 which complements these 2021 accounts.

Women’s Sheds in Australia

Michelle Slater
Women’s Sheds Australia is compiling a growing list of Women’s Sheds, with more than 50 known, active Women’s Sheds across Australia to October 2024. The challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic led to the closure of a little over 20 previously established Women’s Sheds, reflecting the pressures faced during that period.

Diversity in program delivery
Many Women’s Sheds focus on activities around crafting and tool-based work, but there is a broad range of diversity in programs being delivered. Some Women’s Sheds, like the Bayswater Women’s Hub in Western Australia have partnered with local domestic violence refuges to offer tool skills workshops for women starting over after domestic violence incidents. These programs provide vital skills and a pathway to reconnect with the community, fostering both personal and social recovery.

Gender-exclusive spaces in Women’s Sheds offer psychological safety to family and domestic violence (FDV) survivors and a potential connection option for those in coercive control relationships. Other Women’s Sheds, like the Playford Women’s Shed in South Australia offer hot meals to those in need in their community, offering a much-needed stop-gap in local services for those falling through the cracks. There are several Women’s Sheds centred in communities with high Indigenous populations, such as Oodnadatta Women’s Shed in South Australia and Urapuntja Women’s Shed in the Northern Territory, with a focus on art, painting, bush medicine and education workshops. The Gap She Shed in Queensland has a number of social and health-focussed activities, such as a walking group, mahjong and a book club.

Resource Accessibility
Recognising that women generally have less access to tools compared to men, some Women’s Sheds have initiated either formal or informal Tool Libraries. These libraries enhance resource accessibility and encourage participation in DIY and maintenance activities.

Often Women’s Sheds struggle to keep up with membership demand, particularly as many have limited access to facilities, given the most common model is being co-located with Men’s Sheds. Skilled Women’s Shed volunteers are in exceptionally high demand as a high volume of members seek to learn ‘Shed skills’.

Funding Challenges
Unlike many Men’s Sheds, which benefit from being eligible to apply for funding from either the National Shed Development Programme and some state-based Men’s Shed funding support programs, Women’s Sheds in Australia face significant challenges in securing funding and facilities. Funding opportunities are not as readily available, are applied for individually and are time consuming for volunteers to coordinate.

Recent funding opportunities, such as the Government of Western Australia’s Women’s Grants for a Stronger Future Program, highlights the growing recognition of issues facing women in society, such as safety, health, leadership, and economic independence. Women’s Sheds are well positioned to play a crucial role in addressing these issues

International Presence

Global Network
Women’s Sheds exist in Ireland, New Zealand, Canada, and the UK. These sheds are adapting to their local contexts while embracing the core principles of community support and skill sharing. Ireland recently reported it has over 40 Women’s Sheds, holding an inaugural National Forum of Women’s Sheds. A movement in Ireland is emerging to establish a formal Irish Women’s Shed body.

Evolving Dynamics
There is a growing trend among many Men’s Sheds to open their doors to women, typically through combined sessions or on days when their facilities are not otherwise in use. Additionally, more Community Sheds that are non-gendered and open to all are emerging, reflecting a shift towards more gender-inclusive community spaces. Trans and non-binary folks are feeling more comfortable joining Sheds, and Shed memberships are evolving along with societal trends to ensure all people feel welcomed in these spaces. However more work is required in this area to ensure consistency of experience.