November is Movember - Support your Mo Bros!

Hey fellers, November is Movember - the month when blokes cultivate and proudly display their moustaches to promote and support their commitment to mens health.

On Tuesday, 15 November a group of riders who are riding from Brisbane to Melbourne to promote Movember will be in Scone.

The Neighbourhood Centre and Upper Hunter Mens Shed are hosting a free BBQ for blokes to come and meet the riders, hear their stories and support the cause. The BBQ is at the mens Shed in Oxford Rd Scone from 6:30 pm and bookings can be made by phoning us at the Neighbourhood Centre on 6545 2562. Be a Mo Bro ... support yourself and support your mates.

Come along to Secret Men's Business

Secret Mens Business

The Scone Neighbourhood Centre through its Virtual Shed project is
hosting a free seminar for rural men on 28 October at the Country
Women’s Association rooms in Surman St, Scone from 9:30 am to 4:00
pm.

The seminar, presented by Sandra Martin and Natalie Shephard, who
have a wealth of experience in working with rural men, will offer an
opportunity to gain valuable skills in becoming a leader, mentor, and
role model within your community through increased self-confidence,
awareness and understanding of others.

Some of the things covered in the seminar include: what makes women
tick- understand how they think and communicate effectively with
them, leadership, how to look good and feel good – motivating and
inspiring others and how to get your message across respectfully and
effectively.

Bernie Rischke, project officer for the Scone Neighbourhood Centre said,
“We are pleased to be able to present this seminar to the men of the
Upper Hunter and encourage people to attend. It’s a great opportunity
to learn some valuable skills that can be applied in all walks of life – at
work, at home and in your community.”

Lunch, morning and afternoon tea will be supplied and bookings are
essential. Bookings can be made by phoning the Scone Neighbourhood
Centre between 8:30 am and 4:00 pm Monday to Friday or leave a
message on our answering machine out of hours on 6545 2562.

Big Boys Toys

Hey fellers, on September 3rd, 2011 the Aberdeen "Big Boy's Toys" day is happening at Jefferson Park in Aberdeen. All sorts of toys for boys will be there - cars, bikes and machinery of all types and sizes; as well as stalls and a whole bunch of other interesting things to keep you entertained.

Scone Neighbourhood Centre in partnership with the Hunter Division of Rural Practioners will be there too with a "Pit Stop" health check station.

Pit Stops are a fun way to have your "car" - in this case your body - checked over quickly to see if you are at risk of developing heath problems that might need attending to by a "mechanic".

So, if you're going to be checking out the toys, why not come over to our booth and see if you can pass the pits?

Community BBQ at the Mens Shed in Scone

The Scone Neighbourhood Centre through its project for men is hosting a free BBQ on Thursday, August 4 at the Upper Hunter Mens Shed in Oxford Rd, Scone.

The BBQ, starting at 11:30 am is planned to be fun, healthy and interactive with the opportunity for men to come along and participate while learning some tips and tricks for preparing simple, healthy and flavorsome food.

Megan Jackson, dietician with the Rural Primary Health Service will be sharing her expertise and offering tips on how to make sense of food labels, making small changes to your eating that can have long term health benefits and be available to answer questions.

Bernie Rischke, project officer for the Scone Neighbourhood Centre said, “A couple of things featured prominently in a recent survey of men we conducted with Community BBQs and information about healthy lifestyle proving to be of real interest to the men in the Upper Hunter. This is a great way to combine the two.”

Men who are interested in coming along to the BBQ are asked to contact the Scone Neighbourhood Centre on 6545 2562 for more information or to book by Tuesday, 2 August.

Scone Neighbourhood Centre's "Virtual Shed" Three More Years

The Scone Neighbourhood Centre is pleased to announce its popular Virtual Shed project has received another lease of life after the announcement that funding through the Federal Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs has been extended for an additional three years.

The grant of $282,000 has been offered through the Department’s Community Investment Program and will allow the Scone Neighbourhood Centre to continue to engage rural men through various workshops in the Upper Hunter region and facilitate discussion on topics such as drought, family breakdowns, grandparenting and parenting. It provides opportunities for men to establish and maintain support networks, as well as a referral service to a range of agencies.

The Virtual Shed project has now been running for almost four years and during that time has offered men in the upper Hunter over forty activities ranging from high profile guest speakers, community BBQs, fishing trips, activities for dads with kids and a wide range of information and resources about health.

The Virtual Shed has also been the springboard for the establishment of the Upper Hunter Men’s Shed in Scone and generating interest in Murrurundi for a Men’s Shed.

We are looking at running some new and innovative activities and workshops for men over the next three years and encourage comments and ideas to continue making this project interesting and relevant. We also invite other agencies who would like to work with us in developing activities for men to make contact with the service.

To help us with our planning, please take 60 seconds to complete our survey

For more information, contact Bernie Rischke at the Scone Neighbourhood Centre on 6545 2562.

Anh Do Sheds for Scone

In the tradition of ending the Virtual Shed year with top quality speakers and entertainers, the Scone Neighbourhood Centre is bringing Anh Do, comedian and author to Scone Bowling Club on Saturday 21 May.

Anh Do has played to sell out crowds at the Melbourne Comedy Festival and The Sydney Opera House.

As one of Australia's most sought after stand-up comedians, Anh is an accomplished comedian and MC with ten years experience. A talented writer, actor, producer and comedian, Anh is a speaker and entertainer not to be missed.

After bagging every comedy award in town, including the Sydney Comedian of the Year, and appearing on every television show featuring comedians including Rove Live and The Footy Show, Anh finally realized his regular gigs at Rooty Hill bikers club would one day get him killed. Since then, Anh has turned to his hand to acting, film producing and writing. More recently, Anh was awarded the Australian Independent Booksellers book of the year prize for his memoir, "The Happiest Refugee".

Tickets for the function are available throught the Scone Neighbourhood Centre at 130 Liverpool St, Scone or the Aberdeen Information Centre. For more information, contact us at the Neighbourhood Centre on 02 6545 2562.

Free Community BBQs

An important facet of what the Virtual Shed project has been all about is to get the message out to men in the Upper Hunter that taking care of your health is important. That includes physical, mental, relationship and financial health.

Now, there is no denying that visits to your GP, contacting support services when in need of help and having regular checkups is vitally important. But aside from that, there is ample evidence that being actively involved in your family or community has massive health benefits too.

Social isolation can literally be deadly.

And so, in promoting healthy lifestyles for men, we believe our community BBQs are an ideal way to connect with your neighbours and community in a fun, relaxing way.

And so, the Scone Neighbourhood Centre through the Virtual Shed project is hosting free community BBQs for men in the Upper Hunter, the first of which will be at the Bunnan Hall on Saturday, April 16 from 6:30 pm.

Guest speaker at this BBQ will be Todd Andrews from the NSW Department
of Industries and Investment who will share some interesting insights into
international farming practices that should prove to be instructive.

The Bunnan BBQs have proven to be very popular in past years with a great
turnout and I look forward to the men enjoying their get-together.

Also in April, there will be a Community BBQ at the Upper Hunter Men’s Shed
located behind the Senior Citizens’ Centre in Oxford Rd, Scone. The lunch
time BBQ will be held on April 21 from 11:30 am and featuring Stuart
Torrance, Coordinator for the Hunter Cluster of Mens Sheds.

Men of all ages are invited to attend and learn more about the value of getting
involved in the growing mens shed movement across Australia.
Bookings are essential for catering purposes and can be made by phoning
the Neighbourhood Centre on 6545 2562.