Men's Shed

By Tommy Osborne

Community support

Community organization finds creative ways to give back to the community

Oct 17, 2023 | 4:41 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – The Prince George Men’s Shed recently donated two handmade picnic tables to the Prince George Hospice Palliative Care Society and the Pacific Autism Family Network Group.

The Men’s Shed is a local organization focused on supporting men’s mental health by giving men a place to spend time together and work on projects together, such as building picnic tables or doing building repairs for the community.

“It’s good for men to get out of the home, be physical. And mentally it helps men basically to get out in the community,” One of the leaders of the Men’s Shed Craig Young explained.

Supported primarily by the Canadian Mental Health Association and United Way, the Men’s Shed is made up primarily of retired or soon-to-be retired men, as this age demographic could have troubles staying involved in the community and socializing. Beyond the mental health benefits of spending time with friends and working on projects, giving back to the community is another big focus of what they do. The time and effort they put into some of their projects are certainly appreciated by those that benefit.

“It’s definitely going to help us have another area for people to gather. It’s amazing for the community to support us, we’ve received so much support today, this is just another example of how they’ve come together for us,” the Hospice Society’s Finance Director Anika LaChapelle said.

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While providing members of the hospice society a place to gather and spend time together, LaChapelle added the Society also recently made big steps forward in providing more mental health supports through its recreation room for instrumental grieving. This room gives people an opportunity to grieve and work through their emotions in ways that could tremendously help with improving mental health.

“There are so many people out there, both men and women, who don’t want to talk about it. They don’t feel comfortable talking about it, so if they can have a place to come here and work on something with other people who are feeling some of the same things as them, they can either choose to work in silence, they can choose to work with other people, or they can choose to talk about what they’re going through,” LaChapelle said.

With mental health becoming an increasingly common topic of conversation, the Men’s Shed and the Hospice Society will look to continue supporting our community members’ through the power of connecting with people and working together on projects.