MENZSHED NEW ZEALAND 2025 Conference To Feature Innovative New Men’s Health Expo

MENZSHED NEW ZEALAND’s 2025 conference will be taking place this weekend at the Kelvin Hotel in Invercargill, running from today (the 4th) until 6 April. A key highlight of this year’s event will be the innovative Men’s Health Expo on Saturday, which aims to provide essential health and wellness information to Men’s Shed members.

The Expo will bring together representatives from leading health promotion organisations, including the Prostate Cancer Foundation, Hearing Southland, Heart Foundation, Alzheimers Society and Diabetes NZ. These experts will offer conference attendees insights and advice on a range of important health issues, in line with MENZSHED NZ’s commitment to improving the wellbeing of its members.

David Broadhead, Chairman of MENZSHED NZ, emphasised the importance of the Expo: “While men gain mental health benefits simply by attending their local Shed, MENZSHED NZ aims to extend its offering to provide physical health benefits. We’ve devised a proven ‘Men’s Health Expo’ model which brings men together for a morning in a non-medical setting where they can connect with various health providers, get advice on common health issues and even have their blood pressure tested, for example.

“Following the success of the first three pilot Expos at Sheds in Te Awamutu, Matamata and Masterton, we’d like to roll out the programme to older men nationwide via our national network. With generous support from The Selwyn Foundation, we aim to deliver a Men’s Health Expo to as many of the 136 Sheds around the country as possible.”

In keeping with its advocacy role and ‘Respectful Ageing’ strategy to enhance the lives of older people, registered charity and social impact investor The Selwyn Foundation has also sponsored new research into the health and wellbeing impacts of Men’s Sheds on their members. The findings will be available in June 2025.

Conference programme highlights:

Beyond the Men’s Health Expo, the 2025 MENZSHED NZ conference will feature:

• Visits to local sites including the Invercargill Men’s Shed, Niagara Timber, E Hayes (home of the iconic ‘The World’s Fastest Indian’), and Fi Innovations, New Zealand’s largest 3D printing company.
• Special guest speaker: David Helmers, CE of the Australian Men’s Shed Association.
• Zac Kim, from PHO WellSouth, speaking on mental health.
• Dr Murray Preifer speaking on men’s health.
• Helen Robinson speaking about the recently opened Hawthorndale Care Village.
• Shed member Mark Dunick about his experience with kidney cancer and being a Men’s Shed member.
• Keynote speaker: Keith Neylon, who has had more than 50 years' involvement in New Zealand and international primary industries and is the author of “A Touch of Madness”, which tells of his extensive career during a significant period in New Zealand's history.
• MENZSHED National Annual General Meeting.
• Social activities for partners accompanying conference attendees.

MENZSHED NZ would like to thank its conference sponsors: E Hayes, the Invercargill Licensing Trust Foundation, CARTERS building supplies, Carbatec woodworking supplies, Go Bus and Rothbury Insurance Brokers.

Notes:

Men’s Sheds have been operational in New Zealand since 2008. There are now 136 Men’s Sheds nationwide, with over 4,000 members. As part of a worldwide federation of nearly 3,000 Men’s Sheds, these community workshops enhance the welfare of mainly older men who have retired from full-time employment but wish to continue contributing by sharing skills, learning new ones and staying socially connected. menzshed.org.nz

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