Men’s Shed Hopes to Expand Throughout the County

Darrel O’Shaughnessy is a senior and a man with a vision to help other men – seniors and younger men – find a purpose, find companionship and create something meaningful and lasting through the Men’s Shed project.

“It may be only a shed, but to guys like me it is a sanctuary,” he said at Renfrew County council recently.

He was providing an overview of the Arnprior and McNab Braeside Men’s Shed Program, which is part of a global movement and the fastest growing Men’s Shed in Canada. Described as a social healthcare innovation, it provides fellowship, activity, a sense of purpose and community for senior men and other men who may be out of work, new to the community and in need of forming new relationships, he said.

“Senior men want to share their life knowledge and experience that has made them wiser, more thoughtful and, yes, more realistic,” he said. “We have the capacity to deliver.”

The Men’s Shed is just that – a place for men to gather in a shed, create a community, work with tools and create beautiful things which would be of use to others. Men’s Sheds help senior men lead healthy active lives and stay connected with their communities. It is about companionship and fun, he said.

“It has been a life-changing experience for me personally,” he said. “There is a particular need to tackle social isolation in men.”

Senior men are less likely to have strong social networks and have difficultly sharing feelings with family members, he said. As a result they face higher risk of mortality due to social isolation, he said. However, working together, this is part of creating an age-friendly community.

Men come and go depending on life circumstance and the time of year, but there are usually about 51 men at any given time involved in the local project. There are retired tradesmen, teachers, labourers, engineers, farmers and businessmen involved.

“We are the fastest growing Men’s Shed in Canada,” he added. “We started out with five men.”

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