City MenzShed and Wellington Hospital Get Together

John Shrapnell from City MenzShed

Thomas the Tank Engine has brought two groups together in what is clearly a win/win partnership.

Last year Wellington Hospital’s major child attraction, the two Thomas the Tank Engines were in a sorry state. The Hospital asked the City Menzshed to help bring the tired old engines back to life, which they did, much to the joy of many children.


Early this year the City Menzshed, which had been searching for a new home for five years, was made homeless. Secretary, John Shrapnell asked the Capital Coast District Health Board if they could find some space on the hospital campus for the City Menzshed.

“It was a forlorn hope and I didn’t even expect reply,” said John. “I nearly fell over backwards when I received a call saying from the Board saying they would love to have us and would look around their various buildings.”


The City Menzshed’s new home is now in the former Isolation Ward, behind the old Ewart Hospital in Coromandel Street.

“You could barely see the building when we first got there”, said John. It was covered with ivy that that has even forced it way through the windows and into the building. What parts of the building could be seen were covered in graphiti.”



In the last few weeks huge changes have been made. The ivy has gone, as has most of the graphiti, and the sheddies are now painting the interior and setting up their machines ready to start work again on projects for child care centres, schools and community groups.

“It’s a great space”, says John “and best of all for us old men it has lot of toilets.”



The new space also has about 100 square meters of garden space and City Menzshed has invite to the people of Newtown to help turn it into a community garden with a special space for their neighbours the children of the South Side Kids Child Care Centre.