Herbert River Men's Shed

Herbert River Men's Shed is part of a national organisation which promotes social interaction and mental health of males through involvement in hand skills hobbies.
The HRMS came into being on 24 April 2012 when Dave Willoughby was formally elected President, Darrin Cutting the Secretary, and Ross Fitzgerald the Treasurer. With borrowed tools and machinery, and working from under the TAFE building the first project began. Initially it was called “Youth at Risk” and involved students from the State High School. It later became known as “Pathways” and was a positive for the students and community alike.The first community 'build' involved members of the shed joining forces with EMG and Robert Lyon to construct a radio cabinet on top of Mt Mercer to house emergency radio equipment for disaster management and the repeater network.The shed then moved to its second location which was Corradini's old paint shop in McIlwraith St. From this location grant money enabled the purchase of much needed tools and equipment which saw the creation of many useful jobs; some of which were metal wheeled frames for Halifax Library, a 12 surfboard pullalong buggy for the Forrest Beach Lifesavers, a brick retaining wall with hand rails and gates for the HR Pony Club, the establishment of the Community Garden Project next door, and the construction of 60 myna bird traps for general sale.It was obvious that this venue was not big enough for the growing HRMS so after much net-working and negotiating, the shed's third and current home was established in Cassady Street.More funds were gratefully received which enabled: 1.Halifax Museum makeover 2.Shelving for Meals-on-wheels 3.Shelving etc for Bingo Hall 4.Assistance to Palliative Care for running 'hoys' etc 5.Finishing the Community Gardens with shade sails 6.Construction of six billy-carts for Halifax Progress Assn. 7. Pen making and bowl turning plus the ever popular toy truck manufacture.The HRMS is mindful of the tremendous help and encouragement that was and still is orthcoming from the local community, and it acknowledges that a lot of people have gone out of their way to make this a successful and worthwhile enterprise. We express our heartfelt appreciation.