12/08/2026
๐๐ก๐ ๐ ๐ฒ๐ป'๐ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐จ๐ฝ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ โ ๐จ๐ฝ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐จ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ
We are sharing this to raise awareness and hopefully turn up some helpful information.
Unfortunately, GNH was broken into over the weekend.
First, a huge thank you to Fawkner Police for attending onsite promptly, and to the Merri-bek City Council maintenance team for sending out a plumber to get our pipe system reconnected so we could have flushing toilets again. GNH is a space for a wide range of community members, many vulnerable or living with a disability, with close to 100 people coming through our doors each day, so working toilets are essential.
This was a planned and calculated break-in and theft, based on what was taken and how.
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐ธ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฟ:
- It happened sometime between 8.30am Sunday 9th and 9am Monday 10th of August
- Entry was made through the fence, with bolts removed to loosen it and gain access
- They stole:
~ Fence posts that had been bolted into the ground ready for the custom-made fence and gates the contractor was having built and to be installed this coming weekend
~ A fence post and bracket still to be attached once the fence and gates were in place
~ Various Men's Shed equipment and tools
~ The water tank pump - the electrics were cut to remove it, which also cut power to the shed area
~ Copper piping connected to the water tanks, filters and mains, which stopped all our toilets from flushing
~ PVC piping connecting the water tanks was also damaged
If you saw or heard anything, or know anything through word in the community, please contact ๐๐ฎ๐๐ธ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฃ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ป ๐ต๐ฏ๐ฑ๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ.
Community is all about thinking of others and giving back, not selfish acts that take away from others, especially those who already give so many selfless hours. From our volunteers, to paid GNH staff who work far more hours than they are paid for because they care about the community, to the contractor, who will now be doing extra work to repair the damage and replace what was stolen without additional payment, because as a not-for-profit charity, this upgrade is funded by a grant (and other financial support) that took many days and weeks of campaigning to political representatives for support, bringing together all the required information and documents, gaining approval from Council, and writing the application to be successful in securing the grant. This is genuinely disappointing and upsetting to a lot of people.
We have a Grand Opening celebration planned during Men's Shed Week. While this setback means the full works won't be finished in time, enough will be completed for us to still celebrate what it will become - delayed, but not taken away. We won't let this stop us from celebrating.
So as a friendly community reminder: some people are takers, while others are givers - in life, choose to be a ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ!
๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต. ๐๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ-๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ-๐ช๐ฏ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฑ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ, ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ, ๐ฏ๐ข๐ด๐ต๐บ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต'๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ. ๐๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฑ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ธ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฃ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ป ๐ต๐ฏ๐ฑ๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ.
