Portlaoise Men's Shed welcome all to 10th anniversary party

it is a decade since a small group of Portlaoise men decided to pick up on the Australian idea of a Men's Shed, and this Saturday, June 10 they will celebrate their big birthday.

Portlaoise Men's Shed had no shed at all to start with, Ray Harte told the Leinster Express / Laois Live.

"Laois Partnership Company set us up for the first couple of months in the community centre in Mill Court. Then the Sheehan family of KWS offered what has become our permanent home," he said.

That home is the former equestrian centre on the Timahoe Road, a huge space where the men, now grown to some 40 members, meet for a range of activities or just to catch up with each other.

They have polytunnels, a woodworking studio, a model train village, a full size snooker table, and a ukelele and singing group.

Men's Sheds offers a chance to form important social friendships that men can miss dearly after retiring or during illness, whether they drop in to learn a new skill or just for tea and chats.

"We have everyone from young lads in their 20s to men in the mid 80s. From every type of profession, also men from day services. It provides a nice social interaction for them. 

"That social link is very important, we know that even more now since the pandemic. It keeps the brain active, we have a bit of a laugh, tell auld stories, it breaks up the week," Ray said.

The Portlaoise shed has also become a vital support for other community groups, and for nature.

"We began by making water butts, then went on to do projects with Abbeyleix bog, the Irish Wildlife Trust and tidy towns groups, building boxes for biodiversity. We make buddy benches. We have a project now for Kolbe Special School, an outdoor mud kitchen. We've made one foot square gardening boxes for schools with Laois Education Centre. LOETB provide us with woodworking tutors.

"Music Generation Laois supported us to form the ukelele and singing group. We hope to perform at the Bealtaine festival next week in the Dunamase Theatre," he said.

This Saturday, there will be a cake cut, and "a couple of tunes" and a lot of reminiscing.

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"Members have come and gone. Maybe five or six have passed away. Most recently this week with the death of Liam Peters, an absolute gent. A quiet, really sound man who hadn't been with us for a while due to ill health.

"A lot of people are on holidays right now, but we would love to see all the members there that we haven't seen in a while. I hope they come along, get the picture taken and join in the day. Everyone is welcome, even to just drop in and see what we do," Ray Harte said.

The celebration takes place this Saturday, June 10 from 11am to 3pm.