PCRC’s Men’s Shed continues to grow

A place for men to destress has seen steady growth since its inception.

The Portage Community Revitalization Corporation (PCRC) has been organizing a Men’s Shed, which is a place for men to be able to meet, chat, and play board and/or card games. Aaron Pierre, the Indigenous seniors resource coordinator, is spearheading the project along with Mitch Tilk, and says they’re excited that their number of attendees is rising.

“We went from two people on our first evening session, jumping up to nine people,” mentions Pierre. “I’d say it was two weeks (between sessions) since it was the week before the PCRC shut down for winter break.”

He adds that those in attendance were very open to chatting with new people, as they all naturally started playing games and telling stories with the group. Pierre mentions that he loves seeing this side from those in attendance, noting it’s exactly what they were aiming for.

“We had our board games that people were playing, but then the group really started to come together once they started talking about football,” says Pierre. “There was a lot of joking, talking about their favourite teams and all of that good stuff.”

He mentions that these meetings are fairly unorganized, allowing the conversations to flow more naturally.

Pierre says they’ll be holding Men’s Shed meetings on Tuesdays, starting at 7 p.m. at the PCRC building. Those looking to participate don’t need to register.

“I'm just really excited to see how many more people are going to be there next week,” says Pierre.