New home for Women’s Shed

DESPITE the re-launch of the Bendigo Women’s Shed not going ahead a few weeks ago, the team behind the initiative is forging on.

The shed’s new home was needed after the group’s original home also closed earlier this year.

Ms Clarke said a third location is now being set up in its place.

“It’s a not-for-profit organisation for the women of Bendigo,” she said. “It’s women supporting women, and that is absolutely, 100 per cent what this journey is about.”

Ms Clarke said the group now has a hire agreement with Golden Square Community Centre and hopes to run the first workshops from that location on Friday, 2 June.

“They’ve got plenty of times available and a great area,” she said. “I have asked for Fridays; every Friday from 10am until 3pm, and every second Saturday.

“I thought we could run maybe three workshops within that time. That’s what I’m envisioning.

“There can only be eight to 10 people in each class, so I have no doubt that it’ll fill up really quickly,”

Ms Clarke said she was pleased to have received a grant for the project from Women’s Health Loddon Mallee and she’ll be leading the sessions.

“We applied for $3000 and we got $3000,” she said. “I applied to run ‘how to fix a hole in a wall’ and ‘how to change a tap washer’, so those are the first DIY workshop classes that we want to run.

“There’s a lot of women who are sick of paying someone to come and do that sort of thing when it’s really not that hard.”

“My partner is a handyman by trade and I’ve watched lots of tutorials. I thought it just can’t be that hard.”

With a drive to continue the Bendigo Women’s Shed, Ms Clarke said she’s aiming to provide a space for women to come together and elevate their self-reliance and DIY skills.

“I’m aiming to give the girls in Bendigo somewhere to go where they feel safe, understood, not judged, validated,” she said.