As Peter Henry prepared a delicious barbecue dinner the members of the Men’s Shed familiarised themselves with what is sure to become their new home away from home.

Located at Lot 8b on Nobby Road the structure could hardly suit the Lightning Ridge Men’s Shed any better than if it had been purpose-built for it.

President, Chuck Peters, appeared to echo the thoughts of everyone there when he said he was extremely pleased to have achieved, in just nine months, what some other Men’s Sheds hadn’t managed to do in two years. That is, find a shed.

The Men’s Shed movement is one which has been gaining a lot of momentum in recent times because it creates opportunities for men, who have a tendency to neglect their physical and emotional well being, to feel like productive and valuable members of their communities. The Lightning Ridge Men’s Shed is no different.

Under the supervision of its current co-ordinators, Norman Schofield and Kevin Davies, the shed provides a safe and friendly environment where its members can catch up with each other over a ‘cuppa’ or work on a project of their choice in their own time.

At present the Lightning Ridge Men’s Shed is in the process of installing a wide range of tools and equipment so its members will be able to partake in a long list of activities including, for example, carpentry, metalwork, pottery and small mechanics. The only rule is that safe work practices must be observed at all times.

Emphasising this Mr Peters took the opportunity to say, during the course of the evening, “this is not my shed. It’s not the committee’s shed. It’s our shed so what we bring to it, is what we’ll get out of it.”

Mr Peters said he was keen to encourage anyone interested in becoming involved to come down to shed and see the benefits for themselves. The Lightning Ridge Men’s Shed is open from Monday to Friday from 9am-midday.