Doug Martin, John Corbett, Gary Nielsen and Jeff Ratajczak  from the Northern Suburbs Men’s Shed.
Camera IconDoug Martin, John Corbett, Gary Nielsen and Jeff Ratajczak from the Northern Suburbs Men’s Shed. Credit: Supplied/David Baylis

Northern Suburbs Men’s Shed building for growth at Kingsway

Matt ZisWanneroo Times

WHEN Greenwood Primary’s new and returning students arrive for the first day of school on Monday, they’ll have a brand new adventure playground waiting for them.

Members of the Landsdale-based Northern Suburbs Men’s Shed finished the playground project late last year, building platforms and ramps for the students in the re-activated outdoor setting.

Men’s Shed chairman John Corbett said the Greenwood playground was one of their biggest projects of 2019, with about a dozen of the group’s volunteers involved over a few months.

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But that pales in comparison to their plans for 2020 and beyond, which include a new purpose-built home at Kingsway Regional Sporting Complex.

Last year the City of Wanneroo identified a pocket of Crown land behind the Air Force cadets site for the men’s shed to build on and the group is now heavily invested in raising the capital to begin.

Meanwhile, they’re continuing to build enclosures for sick and injured blue tongue lizards and echidnas at Native Animal Rescue in Malaga, remodelling a children’s kitchen at the Girrawheen library, building mobile libraries for local Goodstart Early Learning centres and readying their Gnangara Road premises for a new dust extraction system to be installed, thanks to a $13,000 Better Communities grant from the Federal Government.

With about 60 members and growing aged from their 40s through to over 90s, Mr Corbett said the Northern Suburbs Men’s Shed’s responsibility was as much to encourage and support men in the community as the crafts they share and produce.

“The activities we promote are secondary to men’s health and wellbeing,” he said.

“Mateship is a top priority.”

Anyone interested in joining the Northern Suburbs Men’s Shed can call Mr Corbett on 0499 994 062.

Jeff Ratajczak, Doug Martin, Gary Nielsen and John Corbett from the Northern Suburbs Men’s Shed. David Baylis
Camera IconJeff Ratajczak, Doug Martin, Gary Nielsen and John Corbett from the Northern Suburbs Men’s Shed. David Baylis Credit: Supplied/David Baylis