It’s been a long time coming, but the Cromwell Menz Shed has moved another step closer to having a purpose-built home, with Mactodd Lawyers becoming naming rights sponsor.

Trust chair Neville Hucklebridge said the sponsorship was another milestone in a process that had been ongoing since 2018.

“It’s been a long drawn out process,” he said.

The group has been working from temporary premises at the Cromwell Racecourse since 2019, but they have outgrown the area which was never intended as a permanent home.

If you visit the shed you can’t help but be impressed with what the men have created from two 40-foot shipping containers with a roof connecting the two, plus a room they built themselves that fills in as an office and smoko room. 

With 43 paid members and 15-20 people turning up most days the shed is open, there is not enough room for everyone in the smoko room at once.

They had been unable to find a building in Cromwell that was suitable at a reasonable cost, Neville said, and building their own home would allow them permanence and stability.

“To be successful and continue, we really haven’t had the ability to promote ourselves and increase our numbers without somewhere to put them,” he said.

Central Otago District Council had offered a 1,000-square-metre site on Bannockburn Road at a peppercorn lease, the Central Lakes Trust had given them a grant of $197.068, and the men had raised another $135,000.

Mactodd Lawyers in Cromwell had a previous relationship with the group, having funded installation of the arched canopy that connects their two containers. The Menz Shed was a perfect fit for the Adept-Mactodd Charitable Trust, Mactodd Lawyers Cromwell associate Caitlin Laurenson said.

The trust had specific objectives around elderly healthcare and well-being and companionship, she said.

“When Menz Shed approached us, it was a very quick and easy process to say yes to. It ticks all the boxes essentially.”

The trust did not wish to disclose the amount of the sponsorship.

Mactodd planned to have a continuing relationship with the trust, Caitlyn said, and had offered pro bono legal services, in addition to occasional talks to members on legal matters.

“We are really excited that there’s an ongoing relationship,” she said.

Neville also welcomed that ongoing relationship.

“It emphasises the community support and the business support,” he said. “It will be beneficial to both the Menz Shed and to Mactodd. 

“We value their continued support.”