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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-02-29 Daily Xml
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COMMUNITY SHEDS

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (15:39): I am grateful for this opportunity to speak on why we are all here: to advocate for and support our community. Communities, along with the family unit, are the very substance—the foundation—of society and life as we know it. The strengths of community endeavour are a wonderful example to our young people and prove the value of teamwork or solidarity. There are many examples of this sort of collective action and the powerful good it delivers. I would like to bring two such examples to the house's attention.

On 21 February, the community Men's Shed was officially opened at Bentley Reserve's amenity building, which is adjacent to the Holden Hill Community Centre in the electorate of Torrens. Along with the member for Torrens and the Mayor of Tea Tree Gully, I was there for the opening. Delivered through the Neighbourhood Development Program, it is also important to note that this is the City of Tea Tree Gully's first Men's Shed, and the project was guided by the very talented Community Development Officer, Cathy O'Loughlin.

Men's Sheds have become an increasingly popular national phenomenon, with now over 600 in the Australian Men's Shed Association. Sheds encourage men to engage in their communities; in fact, men are encouraged to visit other sheds when they travel around Australia. Outcomes include a decrease in social isolation, opportunities to contribute to their community through various projects, increased awareness about men's health issues, physical and mental wellbeing, and a chance for men to talk to each other and get to know men from diverse cultural backgrounds. Men of all different skills and abilities are there, with everyone able to participate in a non-demanding and safe environment.

The reference group now has 11 members in the Men's Shed at the City of Tea Tree Gully, led most ably by Keith. We also have Trevor, Robin, David, Terry, Arthur, Bob, Duncan, Clive, Bill and Barry. These men have already found 64 other men interested in being involved in working in the shed, and this is all without any other outside promotion. The reference group has been volunteering every Tuesday morning since September in order to progress the shed, and a formal induction and training program has been developed for the shed which has started to be rolled out. Congratulations to all involved.

The other example is the work done at the Modbury High School Pedal Prix workshop, which is the home of the North-East Human Powered Vehicle Supporters Association Incorporated. Four years ago, a group of enthusiastic parents, teachers, volunteers and students had a dream of creating an opportunity to support and grow Pedal Prix in the north-eastern suburbs to support the Modbury High School Pedal Prix program, as well as other schools and groups in the area. As a result, they have had the ability to apply for grants, and these grants are not normally available for people in schools.

This dedicated team has been led by Greg Taylor and Wayne Ferguson, with the help of Rob Greenhalgh, Kevin Clarke, Rodney Ling, Mike Tansell and Elaine Pearce; with bike mechanics, David Poole and Ron Gibbons; catering manager, Lyn Gibbins; and many other supporting parents and students. The team has found equipment and spares, such as marquees, exercise bikes and trailers, and has been able to develop their own bike design. They have also built six bikes and are constantly developing bikes to keep up with the opposition.

As they have grown, they have gone from competing with three bikes to four, then five, and this year they will have six bikes on the grid for race 1 in Victoria Park. They also embarked on travelling interstate to Wonthaggi in Victoria in 2010, where they raced two bikes. This year at Wonthaggi, in approximately four weeks' time they will be racing three bikes and hopefully improve on previous results. Fast Cats Racing has also started a fitness program for members and friends, holding weekend bike rides—mostly on Sunday mornings—to various destinations around Adelaide.

At the end of 2010, after negotiations with the management of Modbury High School, they applied to the state government for a facilities grant to help contribute to the building of a shed that would provide a new home where the bikes could be stored and work could be carried out. After much fundraising and negotiating with the Department of Education Services and Modbury High School, they were able to build—literally build—this huge shed. After the last race in Murray Bridge in September 2011, with help from local businesses, parents, students and volunteers they were able to erect and finish the shed we see today.

On their behalf, I would like to acknowledge all the effort put into building this facility and to thank the management of Modbury High School, led by principal, Martin Rumsby; the governing council, led by Julie Caust; Health Norris, the earthmoving specialist; and Jeff McLaren, who provided the scaffolding. Thanks also go to all the parents and volunteers who worked on the shed, sold raffle tickets and chocolates, ran quiz nights, bingo, barbeques, and did the Bunnings barbeque. We all understand that long-suffering wives have had to lend their partners to this big venture, and we would like to thank them as well—the whole project would have been impossible without them.

The beneficiaries, of course, are the students who will participate in future Pedal Prixs and maintain the high standards and expectations of Modbury High and associated schools, such as East Para Primary School. This project personifies the benefits of teamwork and, in an event such as the Pedal Prix, as I mentioned earlier, there are many, many disciplines the schools involve so many children in. I know that this year just at Modbury High over 70 students are involved in the Pedal Prix.

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