History

Where have we come from?

The idea of a Men’s Shed in the western suburbs originated in the Rotary Club of Mosman Park in early 2009.  With some input from men of the Fremantle Men’s Shed and the support of around 40 local men, the Town of Mosman Park Council came to the party in allocating land at Tom Perrot reserve for a Shed.  The Rotary Club provided seed money of $3000 to keep momentum going and in May 2010 the Mosman Park Men’s Community Shed was incorporated and became a member of the Australian Men’s Shed Association.

From these beginnings, the wonderful facility we see today was the result of nearly 2½ years of planning, organising, fundraising and negotiating to see the building and its equipment become available to communities in the area.  The contributions of the Rotary Club of Mosman Park in initiative, effort and financial support cannot be overlooked.  Funding provided by Rotary to the tune of $83,000 and their members’ participation in establishing agreements and support for the shed was significant.  From this base, securing a major grant from LotteryWest of $723,000 and subsequent granting of Tax Deductable Status by the Australian Tax Office put the shed on a sound footing to complete the build in late 2012.  On the other end of the scale in fundraising, Shed members conducted sausage sizzles, swap mart events and sharing fundraising with charity groups to ensure this was a bottom-up organisation as well as benefiting extensively from the top-shelf funds from major contributors.

The official opening by the Premier of WA, Colin Barnett MLA on the 15th of December that year saw the Mosman Park Men’s Community Shed launched toward the impressive facility that is now supported and enjoyed by hundreds of men, their families, local businesses and community groups in this district. 

Since it's opening, the Mosman Park Men’s Community hed has moved to a strong position socially in the Western Suburbs of Perth. While providing a place for men to gather and complete tasks at an individual level, there are also many projects undertaken by the Shed for people in the community and organisations who need fabrication or repairs to equipment.  Activity in the shed and the size of projects underway sometimes saw the Shed bursting at the seams and a planned extension to the building was thus completed in late 2018.  This expansion has been supported financially by all local governments in this region in recognition of the benefit community members receive from this Shed.