Men's sheds are well-known for fostering friendships, skills, and a sense of belonging and one Canberra organisation is doing the same for local women. The Canberra women's shed has helped hundreds overcome uncertainty about power tools and home maintenance and its founder has just been named the capital's citizen of the year.
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00:00When Pauline's husband Dennis died in 2017, she inherited his shed full of power tools.
00:08I just didn't know what all this stuff was that he used to play with that I had no idea
00:15how I could use and of course without somebody around the house being handy all of a sudden
00:21things were falling to disrepair.
00:23Instead of selling the tools, she decided it was time she learnt to use them.
00:27And it was a workshop run by the Canberra Women's Shed that helped her do just that.
00:32Four years later, Pauline says she's hooked.
00:35So I've gone from just fixing things to now starting to make things.
00:40It's a similar story for other women who have found their passion for using power tools
00:44through the shed.
00:4528-year-old Rachel Neal says women often miss out on learning how to build things.
00:50I came from a background where, you know, the girls kind of did the stuff on the inside
00:55of the house despite my dad being a builder.
00:59So I've always been interested in it but I wasn't really given the opportunity.
01:03There is something really good about coming to a space where you are with like-minded
01:09people who are just interested in learning and not feeling judged by having to start
01:15from the very beginning.
01:17The founder of the Women's Shed is recently named Canberra Citizen of the Year Sunita
01:21Kotnala.
01:22So I've had calls from Noosa, from Tasmania, from Western Australia, from Alice Springs,
01:30Braidwood New South Wales, Cooma New South Wales and they all want to, you know, start
01:35the Women's Shed.
01:36Though other Women's Sheds exist, a focus on teaching sets Canberra's apart.
01:41A lot of them don't offer the regular workshops that we offer for learning.
01:47That's why right from the beginning the model has been that we hire qualified tradespeople
01:53And for women like Pauline, tinkering has now become a hobby.
01:56I'm certainly on the tours.