Bayside Men's Shed help Sans Souci girl guides

So when they were approached by Sans Souci Girl Guides president Lorena Lys, to restore and customise their old and somewhat damaged benches, the men said, "no worries, love, we can do that."

Ms Lys said the Men's Shed displayed a real example of community generosity and hard work.

"They are wonderful, the men at the Bayside Men's Shed," she said.

"A couple of months ago, I reached out to the Men's Shed to see if they would assist in making us customised benches for our Girl Guide hall.

"I spoke to the lovely Fred who asked if we had the old benches. I said yes, but they were going in the tip, in terrible shape, having been painted over in all manner of paints and badly chipped.

"Fred assured me his mates could refurbish the old ones at a minimal cost and make them look as good as new."

Chairman of the Bayside Men's Shed at Kyeemagh, Fred Poole had to pick up the benches and a few weeks later, just before Christmas, Fred and his mates had the benches ready for delivery.

"Turns out the old benches were 100-year-old Japanese pine we sanded and stained to look brand new," Mr Poole said.

"They were chipped and damaged and Lorena wanted them shorter so they'd fit between the pillars in their facility, so we stripped them right back to their bare timber, took them apart completely and reassembled them in a shorter form. We added the Girl Guide plaque to it because it gave a nice finishing touch to the product.

"It wasn't hard work; we all got a kick out of doing it because it went so well.

"Here at the shed our members we're retired, we are in our 70s, 80s and 90s and we have blokes who all have skills, and we enjoy using them.

"So we got a real sense of achievement doing a job like this and doing it for another member of the community, that's always excellent.

So, What was the total cost? $48 for the tin of stain according to Ms Lys.

"The love, care and attention to detail that these men demonstrated when approaching this job was truly amazing and should be commended," she said.

"The Men's Shed in Brighton is an invaluable asset to our community and we should all be proud that community-based organisations such as this exist for us to enjoy."

Mr Poole said the Men's Shed has a firm community focus.

"I always tell the team it is the project and not the profit," he said.

"We have the manpower to do things and it is nice when we can do something for the community. Besides asking for our expenses to be covered, we do the labour and work for free. It is a labour of love for all of us.

"We have done work for the likes of the Kyeemagh Public School, the Fisherman's Association and other community organisations.

"We encourage the community to bring us projects. People often express surprise that we do the things we do here.

"We want to get the message out to the public that we are here and we are ready and happy to do projects like this.

"We love doing the work it makes us happy.

Contact the Bayside men's shed on 0490-181-766.