Jessica Micallef
Mental health training will be the first item on the agenda when Hume Men’s Shed Sunbury members can gather again.
Shed members received a $4600 grant from the National Shed Development Program to take part in a two-day mental health first aid training course.
The program is designed to train up to 20 individuals to assist them in recognising mental health issues that arise among shed members.
The money will also be used to purchase a whiteboard.
While COVID-19 lockdown restrictions have made regular meetings impossible, shed president Ted Riley said weekly phone calls and online video calls were made to each member.
“We have members from the age of 28 up to 80, what we we have tried to do is keep in touch with the blokes who are living alone because that’s all they do,” he said.
“We also have a newsletter which is put out monthly online and we keep in touch that way.
“It [the lockdown] can get pretty hard on you. I have been out once in the last two weeks, so it is quite trying.”
McEwen MP Rob Mitchell welcomed the funding for the Sunbury shed members.
“It is great to see the Men’s Shed in Sunbury has mental health as a top priority and they are prepared to put in the work to make sure members are able to look after each others mental wellbeing,” he said.
The training program was expected to begin in September, but has been postponed to 2021 due to COVID-19.
