Kilmore District Men’s Shed was the beneficiary of a recent Bendigo Bank grant, which has been put towards the installation of a new dust extraction system in their workshop.
NorCen Financial Services, which auspices Wallan, Kilmore and Broadford community banks, has provided more than $45,000 in funding to the men’s shed over the course of its history, with the new extractors installed to improve the health and safety of its members while supporting its growing membership.
The bank agreed to cover half the cost of the system, while shed members worked to install the ducting throughout the workshop.
Shed president Paul Harvey said the new system was a welcome upgrade to the previous setup.
“The old system we had, we put it in when we moved in here and it was pretty rough. It was put together in a bit of a rush,” he said.
“We had the money and we went to the Bendigo Bank and they agreed to pay for half of it, so we went ahead and it’s been a really good system for us, taking away a lot of the dust troubles we had in there.”
The shed has a consistent group of between 40 and 50 men attend sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as well as the recently added Monday sessions, with work taking place in a wide range of areas including woodworking, welding, gardening, and three-dimensional printing.
The shed aims to provide a place for men in the community, improving health and wellbeing while developing useful skills.
Mr Harvey said the shed was grateful to have received the grant, as it was one of the main sources of funding received.
“We survive on grants, we’ve got a very good grants person who’s very good at getting grants for the men’s shed and we’ve done very well,” he said.
“We do a lot around the community and we’re mainly here for men’s health … we try to cater for everyone. The blokes love it here.”
The Kilmore District Men’s Shed is located at 2 Hunts Road, Kilmore.
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