'It's a big concept': Shed Markets opened to community groups

An ingenious not-for-profit model has seen the Old Shed Markets transformed into a space for mental health support, creative arts, collaboration, and a place for locals to kickstart their small businesses.

It’s the brainchild of Nyassha Anita, a volunteer in numerous local organisations who said she was “Sick of watching these wicked initiatives just about get off the ground.”

She, along with a small committee, have established the Community’s Refuge. The space will host seven local mental health organisations, which can offer walk-in support for suicide prevention, pre/post natal support, LGBT networks and more.

“Any community member can wonder in at any time, and get resources, and know that there is somebody from one of these organisations that will be working from the space,” Ms Anita said.

The hope is that these organisations sharing the shed can pool their resources when it comes to putting together community events, and share ideas about how they can best help the community.

“In the South West we’ll see four events in one month that are anxiety workshops. Why could those organisations not have put a grand of their funding each in, and done it together?

“It’s wasting all of this money and all of the energy that goes into planning all of them. I sit on a lot of committees, and it’s highly pressurised. There’s a huge amount of demand on volunteers.”

The space can be offered to those groups for free off the back of four rooms for hire. Varying in size from small meeting spaces, to a large hall, they can be hired by local small businesses and other community groups for pennies.

“Say you’re a member of the community who’s just qualified as a yoga teacher, but doesn’t know how to launch a business. You come down here, you learn from other people, you hire a space really cheap, and you try it,” Ms Anita said.

“The more people that book them, the lower the rates get for everyone. Money cannot be a barrier to entry for anyone.”

To start with, the hire cost works out that the spaces only need to be hired for 12 hours a week to cover rent – or two of the four spaces for an hour a day. If all four of them were hired for an hour a day, the cost would be cut in half for everyone.

The hired spaces aren’t just for funding though. The hope is that they will add to the variety of the Shed Markets, along with a coffee shop, and a wholefoods shop selling local produce. The idea is that people who are nervous about getting help could come in under the cover of attending a creative workshop, or popping in for some Yallingup made bread.

“We understand that, due to the stigma around accessing support, it can be too confronting to be seen accessing help.

“Being in a small reginal town, there are no drop in centres that are discreet, and at a time when your in need of help this shouldn’t be a barrier.

“At the Shed Markets, you could be here for anything, and that’s the beauty of it. There will always be so much going on here.”

It’s an idea which Ms Anita said she’s had bouncing around in her head for the past five years. Having figured out the logistics, an opportunity came up at the Old Shed Markets, and 12 weeks later, it’s ready to go.

The Community’s Refuge will be hosting its official launch on Saturday, June 17. There will be yoga, meditation, workshops, and the whole team will be there to answer questions about how to get involved.

“I get that it’s a big concept, but it’s also just common sense.

“It’s just stripping it back to what it is to be a human. To collaborate, to connect, to have a place to express yourself.”