00:00When Pauline's husband Dennis died in 2017, she inherited his shed full of power tools.
00:08I just didn't know what all this stuff was that he used to play with that I had no idea
00:15how I could use and of course without somebody around the house being handy all of a sudden
00:21things were falling to disrepair.
00:23Instead of selling the tools, she decided it was time she learnt to use them.
00:27And it was a workshop run by the Canberra Women's Shed that helped her do just that.
00:32Four years later, Pauline says she's hooked.
00:35So I've gone from just fixing things to now starting to make things.
00:40It's a similar story for other women who have found their passion for using power tools
00:44through the shed.
00:4528-year-old Rachel Neal says women often miss out on learning how to build things.
00:50I came from a background where, you know, the girls kind of did the stuff on the inside
00:55of the house despite my dad being a builder.
00:59So I've always been interested in it but I wasn't really given the opportunity.
01:03There is something really good about coming to a space where you are with like-minded
01:09people who are just interested in learning and not feeling judged by having to start
01:15from the very beginning.
01:17The founder of the Women's Shed is recently named Canberra Citizen of the Year Sunita
01:21Kotnala.
01:22So I've had calls from Noosa, from Tasmania, from Western Australia, from Alice Springs,
01:30Braidwood New South Wales, Cooma New South Wales and they all want to, you know, start
01:35the Women's Shed.
01:36Though other Women's Sheds exist, a focus on teaching sets Canberra's apart.
01:41A lot of them don't offer the regular workshops that we offer for learning.
01:47That's why right from the beginning the model has been that we hire qualified tradespeople
01:53And for women like Pauline, tinkering has now become a hobby.
01:56I'm certainly on the tours.
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