At a meeting of the Rotary Club of Bellingen on the 19^th November, Michelle Stockton, wife of Bellingen High Principal, Bob Stockton, spoke about the need for a safe space where the youth of Bellingen could go to learn some basic skills as well as associate with the older male generations of Bellingen. It was suggested that a mentoring program could be established, in a secure environment that would benefit all concerned.

The concept of a ‘Men’s Shed’ is not a new idea and, in the past, members of the Rotary Club of Bellingen have endeavoured to establish the idea in Bellingen. However, the main obstacle has always been the problem of finding a suitable venue. All that is needed is a reasonably sized shed within the town boundaries that could be used in an ongoing basis for men to meet, share their skills and knowledge, work on projects and develop friendships.

Michelle Stockton’s program extends this idea of a Men’s Shed to include the youth of Bellingen, and aims to provide a place where camaraderie can develop between the youth and their mentors. The aim is to provide a venue where both men and boys can meet to work on projects, a place where the men can pass on both their ‘handyman’ skills and their wisdom to the youth of Bellingen. The Youth Shed would be a place where boys could go and where they could find positive role models on which to base their future behaviour.

Many of the young people in Bellingen do not have a significant male role model in their existing family and the central idea of the ‘Youth Shed’ is to try, in some way, to address this problem. However, the first step is to find a suitable venue. If anyone has a shed that the group could use could they please contact Bob Stockton at the High School, or Rotarian, James Christian at 66 550277.

The Rotary Club of Bellingen was delighted to accept Catherine and Peter Waters as new members at a recent meeting.  Catherine and Peter were inducted into the fellowship of Rotary International by District Governor, Neville Parsons, and became members of the Bellingen Club. (Shown here L-R are Past President Pete Bennetts, new members Peter and Catherine Waters, Patti Berrigan - DG Neville’s partner, and District Governor Neville Parsons.)

Both Peter and Catherine work in the financial sector, working in the district while living at Urunga. Both have agreed to accept Rotary’s mission of goodwill, service to others and high ethical standards and will strive to promote these standards within their own vocation. Now that they are members they will begin to take part in the fellowship and community service, both locally and internationally, that is part of being a Rotarian.

The Rotary Club of Bellingen is looking for people interested in becoming members who value community service and high ethical standards in business and their profession. Anyone interested in finding out more about Rotary should contact James Christian at 66 550277.