This semester we are offering a range of tool-based workshops for all genders and abilities in The Shed.

Our Women in the Shed workshops will all run for 6 weeks. The options include:

• Monday - Women in the Shed Introduction. Participants will be introduced to a range of tools in the shed through working on practical projects. This will run from 10am-3pm and costs $200 or $60 with Learn Local funding.*

• Wednesday - Women in the Shed Introduction (short course). Participants will be introduced to a range of tools in the shed through working on practical projects and will also look at basic home maintenance (how to fix a leaky tap etc.). This will run from 12-3pm and costs $160.

• Thursday - Women in the Shed Projects. Participants who have already completed the Women in the Shed Introduction can bring their own projects along to work on in a supportive and friendly environment. This will run from 10am-3pm and costs $200 or $60 with Learn Local funding.*

We’re also introducing a new Woodworking Projects workshops with Dave, who has run our Men in the Shed program in the past. These 4 week workshops from 1-3pm will cost $80. Participants work on their my own projects and tap into Dave’s expertise.

Keen to book in or find our more? Click here.

Note all of these workshops begin in the week starting Monday 26 July in Term 3 and Monday 18 October in Term 4.

*contact our office to find out more about Learn Local funding.

We had a weekend of workshops last weekend, including our Home Maintenance 101 course.

We are very thankful that Phil came along to share his amazing expertise.

Our Women in the Shed program is one of the local activities you can vote for down at Grilld Fairfield for the month of June. If we win we get $300 to buy some more tools!

Look out for us if you are in there and get the chance to vote (I’m not sure how it works in lockdown?!).

Kalimna, Jenny and I went along to the NHVic lunch on Tuesday and came back with the Fiona Richardson Gender Equity Award for 2021, for Women in the Shed.

It has been a collective effort to get this program up and running, and we thank all the women in the community who suggested that we needed a dedicated women’s shed program and then joined in, and also Jen Dentoom who taught the program in its infancy. Her relaxed kindness and inclusive can-do attitude really set the tone.

We’re super pleased that it has been so popular in our community, and it is lovely to be recognised by our industry peak body.

We’re just a little neighbourhood house in the scheme of things and it’s great that we can get interesting programs like this off the ground and also get the story out.

We’ll be looking forward to welcoming more women to the program in terms 3 and 4. We now run it three days a week, with two tutors (Jen and Maylei).

Hi Leanne here. This week I got to escape the paperwork and spend a day in the Community Shed with the Thursday Women in the Shed group. How fun!

It was just their second class and they were finishing off their first project, a gorgeous cherrywood chopping board. To make these they’ve used a variety of handsaws along with jigsaws for cutting, and planers, rasps and files for shaping. Then they’ve practised hand sanding, explored the orbital sander and the mouse sander, and also checked out all the grades of sandpaper.

This week in the morning we looked at finishes - beeswax was our go-to as a food safe option, but we also talked about estapol and danish/other oil, and had a practical intro to shellac and French polishing.

In the afternoon we briefly used the drop saw and looked at screws and nails, practised countersinking both, had a crack with the electric drill and all the bits … and started to think about putty for filling etc.

The women also started to think about and plan for the next project they will be self-selecting.

ACC is pretty pleased to let you know that this program that has been so popular has just been announced as a State finalist for the Fiona Richardson Gender Equity Award 2021, by our peak body NHVic. We’re proud to have pioneered it. Lots of other houses are running similar programs now - and we’re sharing our model and hoping that heaps of women can build skills and confidence - and local friendships - from participating in the locally adapted versions of this course that are popping up in metro and rural areas all across Victoria!

Nails and screws … and why you’d take the time to countersink

Shellac … and the bits and bobs

Find out more about all the amazing and cool things that have recently been incubated in neighbourhood houses here!