{"id":55381,"date":"2014-01-27T15:49:35","date_gmt":"2014-01-27T05:49:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=55381"},"modified":"2020-12-07T12:14:30","modified_gmt":"2020-12-07T02:14:30","slug":"men-get-their-own-shed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2014\/01\/27\/men-get-their-own-shed\/","title":{"rendered":"Nanango Men Get Their Own Shed"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Former Nanango Baptist pastor\u00a0Neil Folling with the compere for today’s official opening, Martin Hirsch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

January 27, 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

One man’s vision to do something to tackle the problem of male suicide in the local community culminated in the official opening today of a Men’s Shed at Nanango.<\/p>\n

“Don Niebling had a dream. There was a certain need in the community because of the suicide rate among men,” \u00a0former pastor at the Nanango Community Baptist Church Neil Folling said.<\/p>\n

“His dream was for a shed where men could come instead of sitting at home feeling lonely.<\/p>\n

“I told him: ‘You’d better do something’.”<\/p>\n

Don told southburnett.com.au<\/strong> that he first thought about the need for a Men’s Shed two or three years ago.<\/p>\n

When challenged to do something, he decided to call a meeting at the Nanango RSL Club and was surprised by the number of people who turned up.<\/p>\n

About 15 people attended that first meeting and then almost 25 at a second follow-up meeting.<\/p>\n

He was also surprised to learn that other people in the Nanango community had been tossing around a similar idea but a plan to establish a shed at the Nanango\u00a0Showgrounds had fallen through.<\/p>\n

Don decided to go ahead and get quotes on how much it would cost to build a shed on land belonging to the Baptist Church on Mt Stanley Road.<\/p>\n

The church also put in an application to the Heritage Nanango Community Branch’s Community Grants scheme and was successful – gaining $56,500 for the project.<\/p>\n

The Men’s Shed will be open to all men in the local community but the finer details – such as opening hours and any cost of membership – have yet to be confirmed.<\/p>\n

Church member Peter Ballinger supervised the construction of the fully insulated\u00a0building and the fit-out.<\/p>\n

“At the moment, we mainly have woodworking-type machinery but I am hopeful we can also get some metalworking equipment, such as grinders and metal lathes,” Peter said.<\/p>\n

Items to fit out the shed have been donated by the local community.<\/p>\n

“People have come forward from left, right and centre to help,” Mr Folling said.<\/p>\n