About our shed
About Us
The Katoomba Men’s Shed is a not for profit community organisation that promotes the health and wellbeing of men by providing opportunities for men to share time together, swap yarns and work together on community or personal projects. It is inclusive and encourages membership and participation of men from all walks of life.
We are particularly aware of the social isolation and the boredom that often leads to depression when men experience a change of circumstances such as ceasing work.
The Men’s Shed provides a place where men can be in the company of other men. There is good evidence that just belonging to a community organisation can be a big help. Experience also shows that men are more likely to talk through their problems in this sort of environment.
Friendship, loyalty and camaraderie are highly valued in Men’s Sheds around the world, where shedders are offered with a place to belong and contribute with purpose.
Katoomba Men’s Shed provides for a wide range of activities including computers, electronics, gardening and a range of workshop-based hobbies. It also provides opportunities for more passive activities such as a chat with other men, a game of cards or reading a book from the in-house exchange library. The activity program is flexible and can be easily adapted to cater for new interests, particularly when a member is prepared to share their personal skills and experience to lead a new activity.
The Katoomba Men’s Shed is an independent and self-funded organisation affiliated with the Australian Men’s Shed Association.
Shed Activities
By providing a place where men can gather and be with other men, the Katoomba Men's Shed aims to improve the health of well being of members. There is good evidence that people who belong to and partcipate in an organisation like the Shed live longer and have fewer mental health problems than people who have no community involvement.
Men come to 'the Shed' for a variety of reasons, including the following:
- some use the facilities to do their own projects;
- some come for a cupa and a chat;
- some are involved in group learning projects, like the computer club;
- some help run the Shed by doing administration, organising projects or supervising operations;
- some help with projects for the community or for people who need small repairs etc;
Most activities are organised and run by the members themselves. This means that new activities can be added to the mix at any time. All that is needed is a good idea and enough enthusiasm to make it happen.
The following pages outline some of the activities that are available at the Katoomba Men's Shed.
Find us
Contact
David White
Address
Phone
02 4782 7433Website
kms.org.au
Proudly supported by
Thank you to our partners and supporters that help us provide offers, programs and assistance to Australian Men’s Sheds. Read more about our partners and supporters.
Major Partner
Partners
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Positive impacts
The Australian Men’s Shed Association (AMSA) is the national service provider supporting more than 1,200 Men’s, Women’s and Community Sheds and is recognised as one of Australia’s largest male-based community development organisations.
AMSA was established in 2007 by a collection of Australian independent community-based Men’s Sheds to represent, support and promote the Men’s Shed movement. It was founded on the principle of sharing information between sheds and those communities wishing to establish and operate a Men’s Shed. It acts as a central hub for information exchange.
Facts & Figures
1,200+
Sheds
Men’s Sheds across Australia (that's more Men's Sheds than Macca's restaurants!)
12
Countries
More than 2,500 Men's Sheds operate in 12 countries
30
Years
The first Men's Shed was established in 1993 (Goolwa, South Australia)
50,000+
Australians
More than 50,000 Australian men participate in Men's Sheds