A community group born from the despair caused by a major bushfire was one of four Western Australian initiatives was recognised in the 2022 Resilient Australia Awards earlier this year.
The Gidgegannup Men’s Shed (WA) was created to help the local community recover following the Wooroloo bushfire, which swept through the area in February 2021.
The facility, open to both men and women, won the Community category in the 2022 national Resilient Australia Awards.
Resilient Australia Awards celebrate and promote initiatives that help communities rebound from adversity, as well as recognising images that capture resilience in action.
The awards reflect a national focus to support and recognise those unique and special disaster recovery programs and are based on seven main categories – community, business, local government, Government, mental health and wellbeing, school and photography.
“This surprise award gives Gidgegannup Men’s Shed a great boost, by acknowledging that the strategies we have all been working towards are widely supported,” said Gidgegannup Men’s Shed President Bruce Williams.
“Our strategies are centered around building a new Gidgegannup Community Hub – More Than Just a Workshop, engaging our members in unique activities to develop essential skills for the Perth hills lifestyle, enabling our group to then provide community services to the broader hills community – especially those impacted by the 2021 bushfire.
We’re having a lot of fun in these activities, developing great friendships and contributing to the local community. The recognition & validation received by this award is a surprise bonus – which I’m hoping might help us raise the significant funding we need to build a permanent facility.”
The members of the Shed are very proud to have achieved a great deal in a short time of operation.
The Resilient Australia Awards are sponsored by the Federal Government in partnership with the States and Territories, managed by the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience (AIDR).
Listen to Bruce catch up with John Paul Young about the Gidgegannup Men’s Shed and the 2022 Resilient Australia Award on The Shed Wireless Podcast.
Tune into The Shed Wireless wherever you get your podcasts! Or visit www.mensshed.org/theshedwireless