The Burpengary and District Men’s Shed Inc is a community-based, not for profit, non-commercial organisation accessible to all men over the age of 18, providing a safe, friendly and healing environment where men are able to work on meaningful projects at their own pace and in their own time in the company of other men.
“A Dream”
In mid-2014 Rodney Hansen a member of Wamuran Men’s Shed at the time attended a sausage sizzle at Bunnings Morayfield where he was approached about why there was no Men’s Shed in the Burpengary and Morayfield areas.
From these inquiries he approached the local newspaper to run an advertisement seeking interest from men in the area who were interested in starting a Men’s Shed.
As a result, of this advertisement a gentleman contacted Rodney and informed him of a group of men who were meeting on a regular basis at a private shed in Peterson Road.
Following this discussion Rodney contacted these gentlemen and arranged a meeting. At this meeting it was identified these men had a similar dream to start a Men’s Shed.
Subsequently, a Steering Committee was formed which produced flyers and placed advertisements in the local newspaper seeking interest. During this time, the Steering Committee continued to meet at various locations as no permanent “home” had been established. Following on from the expression of interest a general meeting was organised at Burpengary Community Centre for all who were interested in establishing a Men’s Shed. The response was enormous with men from many walks of life attending. As an outcome of this meeting a formal committee was formed.
With still no permanent “home” it was clear that fund raising needed to commence so various raffles, sausage sizzles (in the early days at Dan Murphys, Strathpine, Office Works. Also, sausage sizzles were organised at election polling booths and when other opportunities arose.
During this time of homelessness, the men met at serval locations around the district including:
- Mark Ryan’s MP Office (until the Burpengary and District Men’s Shed was Incorporated)
- Caboolture Local Radio Station
On 26 June 2015 a meeting was held in the offices of Mark Ryan (MP) for persons interested in forming a corporation to operate a “Men’s Shed” in the Morayfield/Burpengary areas.
Various names were put forward which resulted in the Burpengary and District Men’s Shed being approved and established. The Burpengary and District Men’s Shed was Incorporated on 14 August 2015. Once approved, the idea of a permanent home was raised again which resulted in approaches being made to the Council.
The Council proposed two sites within the region, one at Morayfield (Unity Water site on Homestead Road) and the other at Maitland Road, Burpengary East. On 26 May 2016 the member’s voted to accept the site at Burpengary East, our present location. Unfortunately, neither site came with any facilities, as a result funds were much needed to purchase, erect and fit-out a shed. With a huge effort from the members grants were applied for through relevant Government Agencies, sausage sizzles were conducted, and numerous raffles undertaken which enabled planning to commence for Shed 1. In 2016, Shed 1 was completed and commissioned and it wasn’t long after that planning needed to commence on another shed due to strong growth in membership.
The second shed was commissioned in 2018. Over the years growth in membership of the Burpengary and District Men’s Shed has been steady which has resulted in the expansion of our footprint to three sheds, with the latter being commissioned in 2023. However, we weren’t finished there, plans are underway to expand our footprint again to four sheds due to overcrowding. We continue to grow from strength to strength.
If it wasn’t for our “Dream Crew”, our current and previous members Burpengary and District Men’s Shed would not be providing a safe and supportive environment for men in our region.
The dream came true….