Putting the care in carer, Gerry Andrews visits the Belconnen Community Men’s Shed multiple times a week, assisting his clients including people with intellectual disabilities make their own work. His diligent and heartfelt approach has not gone unnoticed by the leaders of the organisation, who have recently awarded him a lifetime membership.

“His care, his respect for his clients, his ability to relate to the clients is a fantastic example to all of us in the shed,” Gordon Cooper, the Shed’s president, says.

Preferring to call himself a carer rather than a support worker, Gerry says he doesn’t want to ever be someone who doesn’t care for his clients. Building strong relationships with his clients, their families and the members of the shed, Gerry has left a lasting impact on those around him.

“It was really heartwarming to be acknowledged for the stuff I do,” Gerry says. “I love this place; they help me a lot and I help them a lot.”

The Belconnen Men’s Shed opened its doors in 2014 as a space for local men. The Baptist Church gifted the use of the shed to the community. Members and visitors come to the shed and participate in woodworking, metalworking, lead lighting, welding, and electronics, with opportunities for learning these skills on-site as well.

The Shed is open five days a week, and Gerry is there almost every day with one of his clients, working with them to create projects of their own imaging or design. A skilled woodworker, Gerry helps to enable his clients with skills that can improve their lives.

One of his clients, Ryan Gilligan, a young man on the autism spectrum, has been able to start is own microbusiness, RecycleAbilities, selling pieces that they have made together. It isn’t about being able to start a business; teaching the skills that can improve day-to-day life is a great part of the work for Gerry. He says the skills are valuable to everyone, but can make a huge difference for people like his clients. 

“I’ve seen Ryan start to implement the stuff that he does. After we started working here, he started fixing stuff at his own house because I taught him how to use tools, and it is genuine help like Venetian blinds have fallen down and flyscreens, and he can fix them,” says Gerry.

The idea of the Men’s Shed started circulating in the mid-1990s as a way for older men to be social and to reduce the impacts of isolation and depression. Understanding that men won’t meet up with others and talk about their feelings like their female counterparts, a workspace like a men’s shed would provide the ‘excuse’ to go out and spend time with others.

Giving back to the community is an important part of the ethos of the Shed. They create possum boxes, create items for preschools and nursing homes, and make plenty of holding crosses for chaplains to give to those in need. They also provide their space for carers and support workers, like Gerry.

“The client-carer relationship is something that we’ve always fostered, we’ve always encouraged,” says Gordon.

Carers and their clients, as Gerry does, do all sorts of different working projects, such as electronics. That means a carer who brings a client to the Shed must be able to safely operate the power tools and be a member.

Gordon says they see about six or seven carers coming through the Shed on a regular basis, but Gerry is a cut above the rest.

“He is just very gifted at what he does. He’s a very gifted woodworker but he’s also got a heart that touches his clients, he understands them, and he is incredibly patient.”

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