If a man's shed is his castle, then The Shed in Sydney's west is his kingdom.

Not just to one man, but to hundreds who've walked through the doors to shed their worries about everything from family issues, drug and alcohol addiction, through to legal problems.


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Video Journalist Kris Flanders met some of the characters that call The Shed their home away from home, and meets the only woman who's allowed through the doors.

KG: If a man's shed is his castle, then The Shed in Sydney's west is his kingdom - not just to one man, but to hundreds who've walked through the doors to shed their worries about everything from family issues, drug and alcohol addiction, through to legal problems. Video journalist Kris Flanders met some of the characters that call The Shed their home away from home.

Reporter: It's no secret that men are reluctant to shed their worries. But since 2004, they've been doing just that at The Shed in Sydney's west. Four years, thousands of stories and countless cups of tea later, this sanctuary of sorts is still going strong, giving life tools to men who need them most.

Brian Hunter: Mate, without them, a lot of people would be pretty stuffed, I tell you, mate. I reckon it's a good thing for the whole community, especially for the men - there's nothing out there for us.

Sai Oo, The Shed: It's a place where they can come. It's about responding to community needs and the problems. Like, we have become a place where men come and network together. The place is a non-judgmental, friendly and welcoming place.

Reporter: Family, addiction and legal problems are just some of the issues The Shed tries to help the men address.

Teddy Hart, The Shed: We support them in programs, we do programs for them. Like, we've got drug and alcohol, we've got anger management, we've got mental health workers, and we put them in them and that way they finish their course, and they come out better people. Instead of sending them to jail, we try to get them in rehabs and all that.

Reporter: Seeing a need for a specific men's-only refuge, Western Sydney University and the Holy Family Community Centre joined forces to open The Shed, which continues to be funded by the NSW Government.

Teddy Hart: We need this place to keep going otherwise, jeez, I tell you what, mate, a lot of people will be going back into jail. They'd have nowhere to go, they'd be back on the streets, stealing, and probably get back on the grog and yandy and all that there because there's no support for them like this place we've got here for them.

Reporter: The Shed has been able to succeed where many programs have failed, getting men to overcome their well-documented reluctance to seek help and talk openly about their struggles.

Brett Stanford: Keeps you pretty straight, you know what I mean? Like, when you come here, they help you out with courses and that and get you right into things with the community and that.

Reporter: Although The Shed is exclusively for men, one of the most important members of the team is a woman.

Sandra Kelty, Blacktown City Mental Health Unit: I've been coming out here for about five years and basically to just support the men with whatever worries they have, whether it's family or whether it's relationships or whether it's mental health or drug and alcohol, whether it's the prisons. It's just basically to support and do mental health assessments and work with the men.

Reporter: Building rapport and trust wasn't easy, but it seems Sandra has finally won them over.

Sandra Kelty: I think it's much easier for a man to come and sit here on a log under a tree than to come into a health centre in an office and shut the door behind you. I think places like The Shed need to be duplicated throughout the State, basically to support men to stay well.

Russell Raymond: They've treated us real good, you know, like, supported us, the whole lot of them. They've been there 100% for us and been right by our sides.

Reporter: The Shed opens its doors to men from all social, religious, cultural and economic backgrounds.

Sai Oo: It's become a place where people feel welcome and happy to come and to spend time together and we think this is necessary in the community where there is a lot of this isolation and marginalisation.

Mark Simpson: If The Shed wasn't here, a lot of the boys or whatever could be out there getting drunk or whatever and not educating themselves and everything. This is an educated place. It's the place to be.

Teddy Hart: If you need support and help, just come up and have a yarn to us. We're here waiting for them.

Source: SBS