Fed square mens shed

My daughter popped in to the Fed Square mens shed to ask if they ran wood working programs that women could participate in.

She has a wooden chair that she wants to renovate, basically pull it apart, re-dress the timber and re-join. A bit of a project in her spare time. What she wanted was for someone to guide and advise her perhaps like her dad would if she didn't live in a city 2 hours away.
Whoever she spoke to told her that she could definitely participate by "making them a cake".

How very very disappointing.

We've had a few requests at our shed like that and many other requests for projects from the external community. They sound perfectly reasonable as individual projects but I maybe can understand why your daughter was turned away.

The problem with these and lots of projects involving the external community outside the shed is there is WAAAAAY more demand than blokes at mens sheds that are willing/able/available to cope with them.

Although many sheds do provide a wide range of community services, not everyone attending a shed is there to perform favours for someone else but usually for their own mental health (i.e. to de-stress). The best solution is when an individual member's involvement with an external project and their mental health needs overlap, but that is not automatic and as I said it can get overwhelming if it is not well managed. My limited understanding is mens shed members may not be good at explaining why they have turned down a project - that often just comes down to "blokes communicating badly"

This was one reason why I stopped going to my mens shed on a regular basis. The shed organizers just took on too many external projects and I felt it was getting out of hand. On the days when I was supervising I ended up being the "bad cop" and turning projects away left, right and centre, but then would come back the following week and find out that they had taken on another half dozen extra projects without bothering to check if there were members who were free/willing/able to do them. The more projects I turned away the more other supervisors took on which just drove me nuts. Not long after I stopped being a regular attendee they did appoint a projects manager which has improved things a bit from the sound of things.

Despite my personal point of view, I would encourage your daughter to try other mens sheds. It's a matter of finding an individual shed who has an individual member who feels like doing this sort of thing. Maybe also look for a shed that has specific womens membership/days etc?

I fully agree with Bob.

There is lots of misinformation in the community of what a Men's shed is all about. why it is there and what they do.

I was a volunteer helper at a Men's shed for many years which was set up to help men to cope with their disabilities, either physical or mental.

We received lots of similar requests to fix things etc and usually for peanuts rather then a proper rate of pay whilst they drive in their late model cars etc. Yuppies who wanted it done cheaply.

Thus we adopted the policy of only helping members or their immediate family, even so I repaired about 20 wooden chairs and I hated doing them.

Peter.

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Originally Posted by Sturdee

We received lots of similar requests to fix things etc and usually for peanuts rather then a proper rate of pay whilst they drive in their late model cars etc. Yuppies who wanted it done cheaply.

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Yep - been there done that.

One of the worst projects was when a local business who talked a shed supervisor into the shed taking on a job for what I reckoned was about 1/4 of the commercial rate. It was a mind numbing job so no member wanted to do it. I reckoned the member that agreed to it should have done it but he was already overloaded with too many projects. Eventually two other members very reluctantly did it and then it was months before we got paid.

Another one was a young woman (driving a fancy car and looking very smartly dressed) who asked if we could build her a wooden table for a "cheap price". I said, "Madam we can't make it for you cheaper than you can buy one at IKEA". The look on her face was priceless as she drove off with her mouth twisted into a cat's bum shape.

Then there was the woman who wanted multiple sets of custom games boards made. We agreed on a price and even put it in writing then when she came back to pick them up she wanted to half the payment!

A number of times we have agreed to do things for FREE and the people requesting them have never come back to pick them up.

These days I stay away from projects just fix the odd bit of machinery.

My experiences are similar to Bob and Sturdee.

I’m a volunteer/ sometimes coordinator at our local Men’s Shed. We are frequently asked to fix chairs, tables, restore furniture etc but most people are aghast if they hear it will cost more than $25 despite there being hours of work involved. We were recently asked to to strip, repair and repolish a 1920’s dining table and 4 chairs. The owner thought the job was worth about $50 and was shocked that we weren’t interested.

Generally now we don’t even have the conversation, we just say no, sorry, it’s not what we do. Different story for the old folks and the toy libraries. We’d rather help these people who really need it.

I’m a bit surprised to hear the feedback on Fed Square Men’s Shed. I know some of the members and I thought they accepted women members. They are not just a woodies group - they also have cookery days (Mondays I think), a photography group and a walking group. Sounds like someone was having a bad day.

Brian

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Originally Posted by dadpad

My daughter popped in to the Fed Square mens shed to ask if they ran wood working programs that women could participate in.

She has a wooden chair that she wants to renovate, basically pull it apart, re-dress the timber and re-join. A bit of a project in her spare time. What she wanted was for someone to guide and advise her perhaps like her dad would if she didn't live in a city 2 hours away.
Whoever she spoke to told her that she could definitely participate by "making them a cake".

How very very disappointing.

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Sorry, but I can't see the problem.

She wasn't flatly refused or told to bugger off.

Your daughter was effectively asking for access to the Fed Square shed's workshop, instruction and guidance. Being advised "sure, just make us a cake" sounds perfectly reasonable to me, and not much different to you or I offering a slab or similar in exchange for use of a mate's machinery or shed.
If she had visited the shed I frequent when I'm in Sydney, the alternatives she would have been offered would be join the shed -- all up cost $100 (joining fee + 1 year's membership) -- or "pay" for casual access via consumables, i.e. a cake for morning tea, nibbles for lunch, etc.

I don't live too far from her [hawthorne] if you would like to send me a message with contact details I can help her . Regards John

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Originally Posted by brit

I don't live too far from her [hawthorne] if you would like to send me a message with contact details I can help her . Regards John

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This is why I like this forum. Kudos to you. :2tsup:

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Originally Posted by BobL

My limited understanding is mens shed members may not be good at explaining why they have turned down a project - that often just comes down to "blokes communicating badly"

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You got that right.
There was no suggestion that the cake was some kind of contra deal. She would have expected to pay her way and I'm sure she's seen (and heard) enough in my shed to qualify her for membership

The inference was that girls make cakes not sawdust.

He was probably just trying to be funny but ended up looking like a mysoginist asshole. A simple no would would have sufficed.

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Originally Posted by brit

I don't live too far from her [hawthorne] if you would like to send me a message with contact details I can help her . Regards John

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Thats a very kind offer and much appreciated - I'll pass it along and get back to you if she wants to proceed. She just (last weekend) bought a 2 bed unit in St Kilda (ish) so the chair may be on the back burner for a couple of months.

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Originally Posted by dadpad

She just (last weekend) bought a 2 bed unit in St Kilda (ish) so the chair may be on the back burner for a couple of months.

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I used to volunteer in Men's sheds and I know what is the problem when a random person comes in and wants a "simple" project to be done.
And I'm using the term "person" because it doesn't matter is it's a man or a woman asking support.
As others said she (or he) needed someone to fully supervise her the whole time and considering that there are safety rules to follow also the Men's shed has scheduled activities for all members so it's not that easy.
But I can assure you that people there are friendly and always try to keep the conversation on.
She is female (which makes no difference) and she was asked to make a cake, if was a man he would be asked to do some cleaning or any other tasks in order to contribute to the environment, is that too hard?
But if I was a gentle and kind woman, I would be glad and proud to make a $10 cake at home to make happy some old blokes and I even brought some coffee!
My point is that people are prepared to paid "whatever" it takes to buy something (the house) because you must pay for it but they complain when they don't receive something for free.
I think your complaint is pointless and got nothing to do with gender discrimination!

Someone suggested baking a cake and that makes him a hater of all women?
Sounds like there is a bloody good reason they don't need her in their environment. Sounds like they made the right call.

I went to a mens shed to do a project and got stuffed around. I didn't turn it into an attack on them. I just realised that retired blokes work on a different schedule than working blokes and they were there primarily for retired men. I didn't and I don't expect them to change everything to suit my needs.

I didn't bitch about it to everyone who would listen and get them to shame the specific mens shed in a public forum.

But I'm a bloke.

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Maybe she could look around for a local woodworking club and enquire there.

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Originally Posted by JOHN MEMBREY

Maybe she could look around for a local woodworking club and enquire there.

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That is where she should have gone to. Waverley woodworkers seems an appropriate place and not too far from St.Kilda (ish).

Peter.

Also I know that there's someone who does woodwork classes only for women. I can't remember where exactly but she's in either Sydney or Melbourne I think. So try a Google search for her.

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