Linton Men’s Shed recognised

MINISTER for Families and Children Jenny Mikakos visited the Linton Men’s Shed last week to announce $903,000 to build or upgrade 29 men’s sheds as part of the 2018-19 Men’s Sheds funding round.

Linton locals currently use a twin garage as their shed but has received $60,000 to move to a site further down the Glenelg Highway, where a purposebuilt facility will be constructed.

It will be one of nine brand new sheds, along with those in Rutherglen, Rowville, Penshurst, Trentham, Leongatha, Mount Martha, Mildura and Heathcote.

A further 20 existing sheds will be refurbished, meaning the Labor Government has funded a total 99 shed projects since 2014.

A further $116,000 has been provided to the Victorian Men’s Shed Association to help lead the sector and promote growth within the Victorian network.

Men’s sheds improve the health and wellbeing of participants by promoting social inclusion and providing a place for locals to meet, make social connections and actively participate in their local communities There are more than 1,000 sheds across the country, with more than 360 in Victoria.

Additional funding of $150,000 was recently announced to continue the support of a dedicated Victorian Men’s Shed Association Field Officer, who is responsible for improving the sustainability and governance of the state’s men’s shed network.

“The benefits of having a men’s shed are clear – which is why we’re helping communities build nine new sheds across Victoria and expanding the services and capacity of 20 more,” Ms Mikakos said.

“I am particularly pleased to see this funding will engage more men across Victoria so they have the chance to come together and catch up with mates.”

Linton Men’s Shed President Michael Hough added that the Shed has 25 members with a number of extras that come and go.

“We have been going for about four years – it took us a year to get people together, got a little committee up and then a few of us started and its gradually grown from there,” he said.

“We are very, very happy, thrilled with today’s announcement. We applied for it about 6 months ago and now we have the money to start building – but we will still be knocking on doors in Ballarat, looking for help to get the rest of the money.”