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.

Wayne Pearce in Aberdeen

The Scone Neighbourhood Centre through the Virtual Shed will be featuring Wayne Pearce as the guest speaker at Aberdeen Sports & Recreation Club Golf Club)on Saturday evening November 13.

Wayne is one of Australia's most respected and highest profile rugby league identities.

He carved out an illustrious career in rugby league where he represented and captained the Balmain Tigers, New South Wales and Australia from 1980 to 1990. In 1988, whilst still a current player he was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for services to rugby league and the community. At representative level, Wayne played fifteen State of Origins for New South Wales from 1985 to 1988, including the first ever State of Origin clean-sweep in 1986.

Wayne also played eighteen Test matches for Australia. On the 1982 "Invincibles" Kangaroo Tour, he was voted best player on the tour and in the 1984 Ashes campaign against Great Britain, he was again voted player of the series.
In 1985, Wayne won the Rothman’s Medal (Rugby League’s equivalent of the Brownlow Medal) as the best player in the game.

Former team-mate and fellow international Steve Roach gives Wayne a good wrap - he said, "Junior was the toughest bloke I ever saw. He had a strength of character and a never-say-die spirit that was indomitable.
Whilst developing his football career, Wayne completed a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of New South Wales which included three years of psychology studies.

This background was particularly useful when he retired from playing and commenced a professional coaching career with the Balmain Tigers. He was so successful as the Tigers coach that he was appointed New South Wales state of origin coach.”

Tickets are available from the Scone Neighbourhood Centre – a contribution of $20 per person or $100 for a table of six for catering and to support the work of the Virtual Shed is requested.

Phone 02 6545 2562 for more information.


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Phoenix Rising

Back in May, I published a blog proclaiming the end of the Virtual Shed project - and a mere two hours later the Neighbourhood Centre received a call informing us that we'd been offered an extention to our grant to continue the Virtual Shed another twelve months.

So, like Phoenix rising from the ashes, the Virtual Shed has another life. Our thanks go to the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs for considering the work we've been doing important enough to keep funding the project. To say we've been overwhelmed by the show of faith is an understatement.

Now it's getting back to the grind-stone to organise interesting speakers and events for the men of the Upper Hunter while continuing to promote community building, good health and overcoming adversity.

We plan to have four major functions and at least four smaller community gatherings over the next twelve months. So, if you'd like to invite the Virtual Shed to host a function in your town in the Upper Hunter Shire, drop me a line at virtualshed@pacific.net.au or phone on 02 6545 2562 to talk about what sort of activity you'd like to have. Be creative with your ideas but bear in mind the focus needs to be about promoting healthy lifestyle.

And for those who are unaware, a group has formed to get a communal mens shed happening in Scone. The Upper Hunter Mens Shed currently has a drop in service at the rear of the Scone Neighbourhood Centre in Liverpool St each Wednesday and Thursday from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm when men of all ages are welcome and encouraged to pop in for a cuppa, chat and companionship. So, come along and see where the Shed is heading.

They're also looking at working on some Community Projects with re-spraying the metal legs of 70 chairs for the Neighbourhood Centre already underway. So why not come along and join in on the fun?

Farewell to the Virtual Shed

Saturday 5 June at the Scone Bowling Club will see the final ever Virtual Shed function being held from 6:30pm for a 7:00pm start.

The Final Shed will feature Broderick Smith & Matt Taylor performing. Broderick was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2009 as a member of “The Dingoes” – famous for their country/rock anthem “Way Out West”. Broderick has a long history as a performer and has released fifteen albums to date, nine under his own name, recording both here in Canada and the US. He has recorded with Cat Stevens, Jimmy Barnes, Steve Cropper, The Memphis Horns, Buffy Saint Marie, Ted Egan, Tommy and Phil Emmanuel. The list goes on and on.

An artist of this calibre rarely comes to Scone, so make sure you don’t miss out. Phone the Scone Neighbourhood Centre on 6545 2562 to secure your booking.

Entry is a gold coin donation and finger food/bar snacks will be provided.

After three years the funding provided by the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs has ended. This funding has been a huge boon to the Scone Neighbourhood Centre and the men of the Upper Hunter who have benefited from the many events, workshops and functions we have held.
Over the three years I have seen a real increase in awareness of some of the major health issues affecting men - especially men in a community that has been hit hard by drought and economic downturn.

Over three years I have seen men show an increased willingness to share the problems that affect them, take charge and seek help from the professional services on offer, gain an understanding that there is no shame in asking for help and become involved in activities that strengthen their families and communities.

We have received amazing support from many individuals, community groups, not-for-profit agencies, local, state and federal government agencies and service clubs. There are too many to name; but their support has been invaluable in making the Virtual Shed the success it has been.

This will be a men's only function - so show your support and book now!