Being treated for cancer can be an incredibly isolating experience one which a Melbourne initiative is working to change. The men's shed at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre is providing patients and their families with connection, construction and a break.
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00:00It's a space for people during their darkest times.
00:08And contrary to the title, it's not just for men.
00:11So I was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer in two days before Christmas.
00:18Susie started visiting the Peter Mac Men's Shed after undergoing her mastectomy.
00:23This is actually for a pantry, they're drawers for a pantry.
00:29Visitors use donated materials to construct items like drawers, cupboards and possum boxes
00:34for the community.
00:35You don't even need to be into woodwork, it's just a great space to hang out with like-minded
00:41people that have been through similar experiences.
00:43Liz was diagnosed with lung cancer 10 years ago, which spread to her spine before it collapsed
00:49in 2020.
00:50My autonomy's gone, me as a person has been taken away.
00:56Her husband Neil visits the shed while she receives treatment at the nearby hospital.
01:01I just enjoy it, so we're both doing something today together but in separate little places
01:06across the road from each other.
01:07We both, it's like dancing on tables for me like I used to do, but I can't do the dancing
01:12on the table, but it's worked out magical for us.
01:17Wellbeing has also become a key part of patients' care inside the hospital.
01:22They can come out of being a cancer patient just for half an hour between appointments,
01:28have a cuppa, sit out in the garden and people find that really valuable.
01:35There are over 360 sheds across Victoria and this is the first in a hospital precinct.
01:41It's connecting patients and families with a community of like-minded peers.
01:46Hammering Home, an initiative for better mental health.