Shoulder to Shoulder

It was the early 1990s, in Goolwa, a small town in South Australia.

Maxine Chaseling ran a club for older people, the Heritage Club.

Her father was not doing well. After a heart attack, he could no longer work. He had become depressed.

Only one thing still seemed to give him purpose: working in his shed.

She noticed something else. Some men, who had no interest in the club's activities, would wander over and chat with him.

So she had a simple idea. What if they had a shed of their own?

On March 3, 1993, in Goolwa, "The Shed" opened its doors.

Men came with their hands. To repair, build, restore. And, almost without noticing, to talk.

The movement would later adopt a motto: "Men don't talk face to face, they talk shoulder to shoulder."

The idea travelled. Across Australia, then to Ireland, the United Kingdom, and much further.

In 2011, the first Canadian shed opened in Winnipeg, at the Woodhaven Community Club. Today Canada has more than 150, in every province.

Around the world, there are more than 3,300.

Years later, Maxine Chaseling summed up her part with modesty:

Alone, a man can withdraw into himself. Together, at the workbench, men give one another purpose again. That is Ubuntu with sawdust on its hands: we become someone again by making something with others.

There may be a shed near you. Or a man in your life who needs someone to take him there.