While the original Men’s Shed was formed in Australia in the 1980s and spread rapidly throughout that country, it didn’t come to Canada until a couple of decades later and not to Neepawa until 2019. The idea around Men’s Shed is that it provides an outlet for men, particularly older or retired men, who are feeling isolated, depressed, or purposeless.

Men, claims Neepawa organiser Colin McNairnay, do not tend to just sit around and talk to one another, but if they have their hands on a project, the words flow more freely. Sometimes those projects are woodworking or crafting, other times they might be fixing an engine or assembling a piece of furniture.

“It’s not the project that’s the important thing,” says McNairnay. “It’s the fact that they’re getting together and interacting.” The project is just the excuse to get together, and sometimes it might be just one person working on a project and three more sitting nearby and offering ‘help’ that’s more verbal than physical. It’s that companionship that’s the end goal.

Because the Neepawa group started in 2019, they were soon impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic which curtailed their expansion, although they were still able to carry on with their existing group. Now that all restrictions have long since been lifted, McNairnay hopes they’ll be able to increase their numbers. To that end, he’s formed a partnership with ArtsForward to use their boardroom twice a month for members to gather, talk, and plan projects - and “members” means anyone who wants to come. While the project originally targeted senior men, despite the name, there are no age or gender restrictions in place for the Neepawa Men’s Shed.

Men’s Shed has already completed several projects for ArtsForward over the past couple of years, including the outdoor planters that are used in the kids’ Field To Table club, and have also done woodworking projects for the Town of Neepawa, the Margaret Laurence Home, and NACTV. McNairnay says the group has been well funded by Miles for Mental Health as well as the Beautiful Plains Community Foundation and the Youth Advisory Committee, and so they only charge the cost of materials for the community projects they complete, and even then only if the group can afford it.

If there’s one thought McNairnay wants to leave everyone with, it’s that the focus of the group is on the wellbeing of the individual and not on the project. While the projects they complete are contributing to the community, in the end the group is all about the people.