Our Story

As the estimates escalated for the cost of construction of a suitable shed it became apparent that we could no longer afford what the Wanneroo City was demanding (to build a facility on their block of crown land). We sought approval for our allocated grants to be used on a freehold purchase, and that request was successful.

The shed had grants from Lotterywest, and the Gaming Community Trust and made the required balance from its own building fund to buy the Creative Street warehouse.

Wanneroo City gave us the use of two facilities: Daisy House (an old house) in Girrawheen for our computer work, and Buckingham House (a heritage listed school house) in the heart of Wanneroo to use for wood work. During those years we negotiated with the City for the allocation of a block (on the corner of Leach and Crisafulli Roads in central Wanneroo, while we grappled with miriad designs for construction of a shed to meet our combined needs. We also applied for (and succeeded in obtaining) significant government grants form Lotterywest and the Department of Racing and Gaming.

The Shed became an incorporated body in Western Australia 2010, and obtained an Australian Business Number from the Australian Taxation Office. Also, it registered as a recipient of donors for taxation offset purposes.

Wanneroo City gave us the use of a 6m x 8m room at the Hainsworth Centre in Girrawheen. But it was a shared facility, meaning that we had to pack up and lock away our computer gear at the end of each day. Interestingly, our 'workbenches' were hospital beds in their previous life.

The Wanneroo Community Men’s Shed was established in 2009, and given a temporary home in the Agricultural Society’s chicken sheds at Wanneroo Showground. The shed was available for 51 weeks of each year - obviously not available for us during the week of the show! Space available was quite sizable for computer work, but we had it for less than a year when some hoodlums broke in to steal what they could, then set fire to cover their tracks. A fire destroyed the shed and its contents and we moved to the Hainsworth Centre, and then to Daisy House in Girrawheen and Buckingham House in Wanneroo.