November 2023

COMMUNITY – what does ‘community’ mean to you? One definition is a social unit of human organisms who share common values.

Our Empower Program invited participants to reflect on the following: “Instead of us telling you what Shedding is can you tell us what Shedding is for you?” One of the words most used to describe Shedding was community. Out of 153 responses, the word ‘community’ was used 102 times. The responses were enlightening and inspirational. Here are some of those responses:
 
“Shedding is a collective of passionate humans coming together to create positive change in the world. It is a place where I feel safe to be myself, supported by community. It is a place I come to play and discover a world of potential. It is a place where I feel purposeful, celebrated, and supported.”
 
“Shedding is a reminder that I am not alone, that I have so much to give, that I am enough. It is a safe place, and a place where I explore new ideas with curiosity and FUN! It is a place full of friendships, a community – like-minded, motivated, and above all, kind.”
 
“Shedding welcomes me with open arms. It welcomes EVERYONE with open arms. Shedding is community.  It walks, talks, models, and breathes community. I can be me at Shedding. It’s a place of friendship, love, kindness, and laughter. Shedding nurtures me inside and out!!”
 
“Shedding is a community movement. It is a revolution. Shedding puts the power back in the hands of the individual and brings community closer together. Shedding is also a philosophy of learning, growing, sharing knowledge, and empowering people with the skills to change their lives for the better.”

After Shedfest, we will be delighting in a well-earned break. We will have our work boots on when we open again in January. We have a lot of exciting activities and community events planned for 2024. 

Of course, we will have our usual monthly Potluck Dinners & Workshops (Upskill, Empower and SpaceMakers) and Repair Cafe going strong. Our Gordon Street Greenhouse construction will continue through January. We will launch our Wellbeing Training for our Empowered Mentors. We are looking forward to getting on the road with our Mobile Workshop (pictured below).

🎊 6th December 2023 – Monthly Potluck Dinner 6-9pm

🎊 10th December 2023 – SHEDFEST End of Year Celebration

🎊 11th December 2023 – Shedfest Pack-Up (We’d love your help)

🎊 12th December 2023 – Shedding Closes

🎊 19th January 2024 – Shedding Reopens

🎊 7th February 2024 – Shedding’s first Monthly Potluck for 2024!

Shedding Awards

2023 has been an award-winning year for our Shedding Community!

Our most recent award at a national level is the Resilient Australia National Mental Health and Wellbeing Award for our Post-Flood and Recovery Initiative.
 
“The Resilient Australia Awards is a nationwide program that celebrates, shares and promotes initiatives that build and foster community resilience to disasters and emergencies.” (Australia Institute for Disaster Resilience)
 
https://www.aidr.org.au/resources/resilient-australia-national-awards-2023/
 
“Following the February 2023 flood disaster, Shedding commenced our “Post-Flood Repair and Recovery Initiative” – transforming our small-scale workshop to support hundreds of volunteers to salvage, assess, clean, repair, donate and deliver flood-damaged items to flood-affected communities region-wide.
 
Over six weeks we repaired thousands of items, saving over 20 tonnes of waste from landfill – valuable functional items (fridges, washing machines, furniture), large-scale equipment (generators, chainsaws, dehumidifiers) and invaluable sentimental personal belongings.
 
As an organisation focused on wellbeing, self-empowerment and community-connection, our workshop offered a safe and trauma-informed environment for all people to connect and contribute to the recovery process. This sense of purpose helped the community to feel seen, heard, valued and resilient during a time of crisis.
 
As a result, we have identified the need for all-inclusive sheds and repair spaces country-wide and created hands-on training programs and services to support communities to establish their own inclusive workshops for wellbeing.” (Director, Sophie Wilksch)
 
Other awards received this year include:

🏆 Winner
Community Initiative of the Byron Shire 2023
 
Resilient Australia Mental Health and Wellbeing Award NSW
 
🏆 Finalist
Get Ready Community Award 2022

Gordon Street Greenhouse

SPACEMAKERS continues to collaborate with Lauren O’Reilly from Byron Community College in Mullumbimby. We are nearing the completion of our Greenhouse Build, having now installed roofing and constructing window frames. The Gordon Street Permaculture Garden will open to the public from 30th November. “Learning to use low-cost recycled and upcycled materials” is part of Lauren’s vision to show people what can be created by utilising a bit of imagination, skill and magic.
 

Regular workshops

UPSKILL
UPSKILL is the place to start your Shedding journey. It’s an introduction to the fundamentals of carpentry and building, and once you’ve done it you can jump into all our other workshops.

Day: 1x Saturday (check the website for dates)
Time: 8.30am-1.00pm
Cost: $50.00 (Can’t afford it? Get in touch)
Book in: Click here

SPACEMAKERS
SPACEMAKERS happens on Fridays and is our free workshop series where you get to collaboratively design and build a range of community projects. It’s such a fun time and a great place to practice your existing tool skills, learn some new ones, and share the joy of supporting each other.

Day: Fridays
Time: 10am-3pm
Cost: By donation
RSVP: To book your spot email us, or just drop by and say hi.

REPAIR CAFE
Join our host of volunteers every Saturday arvo as we passionately share skills to repair all manner of things. You don’t need to be an expert, basically if you can turn a screw driver anti-clockwise you’ve got the skills we need! 

Day: Saturdays
Time: 1.30pm-4.30pm
Cost: By donation
RSVP: Just drop by and say hi.

THE EMPOWER PROGRAM
EMPOWER is a hands-on training in teaching and leading. This program is designed to inspire like-minded individuals and organisations to share Shedding’s practices, learnings, resources and networks to empower communities near and far with practical carpentry and building skills in safe and supportive environments.

Day: 1x Thursday (+ 5hr online course)
Time: 8.30am-5.30pm
Cost: $100 (scholarships available)
Book in: Click here

MONTHLY POTLUCK DINNERS
On the first Wednesday of each month our Shedding community comes together to share food, conversation and hands-on skills. We’re currently learning knot tying, it’s so much fun! 

Day: First Wednesday of the month
Time: 6pm-9pm
Cost: Bring a dish to share or a donation (recommended $10)
RSVP: Send us an email/facebook message

Can’t wait to get on tools with you!