1. CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS IN THE RAPID GROWTH OF ONE OF AUSTRALIA’S LARGEST SHEDS Speakers 1.Barry Cheales 2.Norm Thursby 3.Rick Beasley

2. Where is Buderim? National Conference 2013 Ballarat Buderim Noosa 2

3. Snapshot of Buderim National Conference 2013 Ballarat  Popular retirement location  High level of community involvement  Scarcity of suitable Shed sites  Sponsored by Buderim Rotary Club 3

4. Time Line National Conference 2013 Ballarat  Nov 2010First members signed up Registered with AMSA as a developing Men's Shed  Mar 2011In excess of 80 firm expressions of interest received  June 2011Open for activities one day per week at 53 Mill Road  Feb 2012Membership reaches 150 - Waiting list introduced.  June 2012Open for activities 3 days per week – membership reopened.  Sept 2012Open 5 days per week, membership reaches 230.  Dec 2012End of first full year of independent operations Membership peaks at 274  July 201319 different activities with 26 individual groups 4

5. Growth in Membership National Conference 2013 Ballarat 5

6. Challenges National Conference 2013 Ballarat  Rapid growth in membership  Need for a Shed  Need for equipment  Need for activity Team Leaders  OH&S policies and procedures  Community expectations 6

7. What worked for us National Conference 2013 Ballarat  Open dialogue with stakeholders  Communicate with the members  Foster social interaction  Celebrate any progress  Lobby Local & State Government members 7 RAPID GROWTH IN MEMBERSHIP

8. What worked for us National Conference 2013 Ballarat  Generous benefactor (Dr Bill Glasson)  500 sq m of floor space and 2 acres of land  Turning the property into a Shed unified the group  Fund raising became a priority  Movers and shakers came to the fore  Central location gave us visible presence 8 NEED FOR A SHED

9. What worked for us National Conference 2013 Ballarat  Publicise the need  Follow up the offers  Deal with the rubbish  Be honest but considerate  Protect members equipment on loan 9 NEED FOR EQUIPMENT

10. What worked for us National Conference 2013 Ballarat  Encourage diversity of activities  Encourage grass roots ownership of activities  No volunteer Leader – no activity 10 NEED FOR ACTIVITY TEAM LEADERS

11. What worked for us National Conference 2013 Ballarat  The enthusiasm for action means procedures got left behind  Formal competency assessments were lagging  Membership frozen to allow systems to catch up  Use of the AMSA model allowed a quick & effective introduction of OH&S systems 11 OH&S POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

12. What worked for us National Conference 2013 Ballarat  Excellent publicity gave us a high profile  Able to provide a much needed service to other community groups  Assisted Local Council with garden maintenance  Careful not to compete with local contractors  Cleared out many backyard sheds 12 COMMUNITY EXPECTATIONS

13. Summary National Conference 2013 Ballarat  Promote the Shed locally then ride the growth wave  Find premises quick the bigger the better  Encourage new activities – enthusiasm drives progress - under control  Get OH&S procedures done early  Keep communicating – a Shed is a great rumour mill  Lobby the Politicians and Councillors hard 13

14. THANK YOU Q & A

15. Video 15 National Conference 2013 Ballarat