The Australian Government has allocated $15,252 in the latest round of grant funding of the National Shed Development Programme to help support the health of men in Wannon.
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As part of the announcement the Ararat Men's Shed received $1,998 to go towards health, wellbeing and events including a desktop computer and multifunction printer; shed improvements and installation of Euromaid electric stove and rangehood.
The Mortlake Men's Shed will also receive some funding with $2,000 for tools and equipment including an elevated freestanding cooker.
Including today's announcement, the Government has provided $6.4 million in grant funding to support Men's Sheds since 2013.
The Stawell Men's Shed received the largest portion of the funding with $4,000 allocated for tools and equipment including a Woodfast single phase thicknesser and spiral head cutter.
Stawell Men's Shed acting president Allan Rees, who has been involved with the group for 10 years, said the funding boost was "brilliant" news.
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"We didn't think we had gotten this grant, we were just about to throw our arms up in the air and then we got notification the other day which was brilliant," he said.
"A lot of the credit goes to Robert Wright, he was the one who had completed all the applications and chased everything up and he has done a brilliant job on it.
"It will be great, we are looking for a new thicknesser so this funding will help us get a bigger one."
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Mr Rees said the grant will help keep the centre functioning as a safe space for men in the region.
"We are really here as a Men's mental health group to sit and talk and provide a place for blokes to come and get together and have a good chat about things," he said.
"We have had a few fellows and one in particular, we asked him what the Men's Shed has done for him and he said: 'put it this way, I'm alive', and that is the kind of things we want to help people with."
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