'I'd be dead without it': Life-saving men's shed under threat

Updated

With funding drying up, a program in Melbourne some regulars say has saved their lives will be forced to close its doors in weeks.





Barry Poulton and Malcolm Butt met while living in the same supported housing in Williamstown, in Melbourne's south, and have become good friends.

Each week they catch two trains, on their mobilty scooters, to the Brimbank men's shed at Sunshine.

"I got to know the guys and it changed my life," Mr Butt said. "Without the men's shed I would have been dead."

Mr Butt, 54, used to run a bus company.

But after developing Parkinson's he was forced to stopping work and he said he considered suicide.

He talked about having to hunt down strangers just to have someone to talk to.

"You haven't got anything to do, you haven't got anyone to talk to, no-one wants to know you," Mr Butt said.

24-hour telephone counselling Lifeline on 13 11 14

Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800

MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978

Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467

Barry Poulton needs a higher degree of care than Mr Butt. He wears a helmet all the time because of potential falls. The 76-year-old rarely gets visitors.

He said he would be lost without his friends at the shed.

"You can have a yarn with the blokes and talk over your problems ... and we can help each other," Mr Poulton said.

'They're ready to throw us out aren't they?'

Ray Smith, 75, was a truck driver before he was badly injured in two serious accidents.

He has an acquired brain injury, struggles to walk due to his damaged knees, and is legally blind.

He has lived alone for almost 30 years.

"I keep myself tidy and look after the garden ... I've got the whole house by myself," he said.

Quick with a joke and a smile, Mr Smith is constantly busy with jobs at the shed.

"I do odds and sods, I do the dishes. It's atmosphere," he said.

It is one of his few social outings each week.

"I wish it was open more often, the shed, but they can't afford it and they're ready to throw us out already, aren't they?"

Closure imminent without financial lifeline

The Brimbank shed is one of the only men's sheds in the country with a paid support worker.

About half the men who attend the shed have mental health issues, with many referred from rehabilitation programs or psychiatric services.

Five of the men the ABC spoke to at the shed said they had been suicidal before getting the shed's support.

It has run for a decade, relying on piecemeal funding from all levels of government as well as philanthropic and not-for-profit sources.

But it has been unable to secure ongoing funding to pay shed co-ordinator Anthony Lai's wage.

"All our normal sources have said 'we've given you a couple of years' funding, we can't do that anymore'," Mr Lai said.

Without a financial lifeline, in four weeks the shed will close its doors.

A spokesman for the federal Department of Health said it did not fund individual sheds directly.

The Victorian Health Department and the local Brimbank Council said they do not provide funding for wages.

A campaign to raise funds for the Brimbank shed had raised $1,000 as of Sunday afternoon.

Topics: social-policy, government-and-politics, community-and-society, suicide, melbourne-3000, sunshine-3020, australia, vic

First posted