At about 3.15am on Tuesday, November 25, last year, emergency services were called to the fire that gutted the original building.

After 12 months of hard work it’s open again and Shed manager Neil Giggins said ‘tis the season to return to business. 

“It’s a really good Christmas present, I can tell you, to have this back up and running again like it was,” he said.

“We want to thank the many people and the firms who helped us on our rebuild, especially the builder Greg Toole and AREC for letting us bring the container and use their rooms while the Shed was out of action.”

Former Australian cricketer and men’s health ambassador Merv Hughes was back again to officially open the Shed once more.

He has something of an affinity with the organisation having been involved with a function in 2008 to raise money for the Shed, officially opening it in 2010 and re-opening it again yesterday.

Merv said that while it was sad to lose the original shed “sometimes a thing like this does bring a group closer together”.

“Accidents happen and what happened here at the Men’s Shed was disappointing but as we see today a lot of good things come from bad happenings,” he said.

“It’s come up well and just the work, effort and time that people give is incredible, and you’ve got to thank everyone who has donated supplies and their time to return the shed to its former glory.

“It is a great shed - there’s no doubt about that - and it gives the blokes of Mudgee a place to get together, do some work and to have a chat.”

The former right-arm fast bowler is a big fan of the Men’s Shed concept.

“They are great for communities, especially in rural areas, because children move away and often older blokes don’t have anything left in town, so to have a place like this gives them something,” he said.

“More than anything it’s time spent with other people which is really important for guys that are a bit old to play sport but they can come in and be a part of this, it’s fantastic.”

Mr Giggins also said that the organisation has done just that for the local area.

“The Shed has made a big difference to the older men who come out here and find something to do and have something to do, instead of just sitting at home and doing nothing,” he said.

“They can come out here, talk, do what ever they like, there’s something for everyone to do.”

The Mudgee Men’s Shed is open on Mondays and Wednesdays, from 9am to 3pm and is located at the AREC site on Cassilis Road, Mudgee.