Women’s shed plan
With the men’s shed groups a huge success across WA, women in Rockingham have decided it could be a great idea to get their own version up and running.
Kelly Clear has decided women in the community deserve a chance at learning how to build things, use tools and more and said many could not rely on men to help them out.
“I got the idea after speaking to an elderly widow at a women’s health clinic. She was telling me after her husband passed away she had to call an electrician to change her lightbulbs as she had never learnt how to do it,” she said. “She said she was charged about $150 and was gobsmacked when she learnt how cheap it could be to do it on your own.
“It got me thinking that there were probably many others like her out there so I started to research women’s sheds in Australia.”
Ms Clear said while they were big on the east coast, there was only one in WA which did not teach the same things as men’s sheds did.
“I set up a Rockingham Women’s Shed Facebook group to gauge the interest from the community and within 24 hours it had 150 likes which I was very surprised about,” she said.
Ms Clear has been in contact with the Rockingham council to discuss the possibility of officially getting the women’s shed up and running.
“They suggested joining up with the current men’s shed here and sharing the space but after asking the Facebook group about this idea, we have decided it would not be the best option,” she said.
“I understand they have their men’s health discussions and they want a safe space for men to do that and I just feel that women should have the same thing.”
She said the council had agreed a women’s shed was a good idea, but it did not have the space to set up another shed.
“We are now looking at the possibility of someone donating a space for us,” she said.
“We then have to look at applying for grants or funding to get the space fitted out with power tools and stuff like that.
“There is a lot more to be done, we are just taking baby steps at the moment.”
“This shed will be for women by women and will hopefully provide a safe space for ladies to learn, share and create or just come along for a coffee and a chat when they need.”
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