Leschenault men back on the tools

Members of the Leschenault Men’s Shed returned to work last week with wood, drills and sanitiser at the ready.

But with restrictions in place, shed president Paul Fonck said it was not business as usual.

“We are only allowed to have 20 members in at a time which can be challenging when we have 96 members,” Mr Fonck said.

“At this stage it seems to be working well, people are aware that this is just the beginning and hopefully restrictions will ease soon.”

Since being back in action, the members have been busy finishing off some of their big projects.

“When people found out we are back open we had lots of orders come through,” treasurer Frank Costello said. “At the moment we are working on a cubby house for a member of Ignition South West who has a disabled daughter, so it has been great seeing that come together.

Having recently applied for extra land through the Harvey Shire Council, Mr Fonck said the shed was hoping to expand its work area to cater for members with disabilities. “Our men’s shed is inclusive, so people who have disabilities have a place in here,” he said,

“But because of how many members we have we are overcrowded and are not able to cater for those with disabilities. We are hoping to build a new shed on some vacant land next door so we can have a dedicated space and accommodate for those people.

“We have an autistic member, a member recovering from a stroke and a member who is deaf that comes with a carer and it all comes down to belonging to a group, that is so important.”