Communications & Content Officer - Newcastle

Australian Men’s Shed Association

A man working on a construction project stands on a wooden platform, attached to a wooden frame, on a metal grid ceiling. He wears a red baseball cap, a beige shirt, and shorts, and is using tools on the frame.
A smiling man with brown hair and a beard, wearing a yellow plaid shirt, standing in a woodworking shop surrounded by wooden planks and tools.
Two people working together on a woodworking project in a workshop. One is a man with dark hair and a beard, wearing a tank top, and the other is a woman with blonde hair, wearing a black shirt, yellow tool belt, and camouflage socks. They are using power drills and appear to be discussing the project. There are stacks of wood, power tools, and large wrapped pallets in the background.

This page supports Ashley Menegon’s application for the Communications & Content Officer position at the Australian Men’s Shed Association.

Ashley brings a wide range of experience and practical skills gained through work with charity organisations similar to the Australian Men’s Shed Association, most notably The Bower Reuse and Repair Centre. The page displays relevant supporting materials in one easy to reference location.

These include:

  • Online Livestream Presentations

  • Workshop Educational Resources

  • Social Media Videos

  • Involvement in The Bower’s Tiny House Course

  • Additional community videos.

Ashley Menegon

LiveStreams for The Bower Reuse and Repair Centre

“The Bower is an environmental charity and social enterprise demonstrating the circular economy in action through the repair, reuse and rehoming of household goods.”

In response to the COVID lockdowns in 2020, The Bower commenced online livestreams as in person classes were no longer possible. These livestreams covered various topics including furniture finishing and repair, tiny house course promotion, bicycle repair and more. Ashley Menegon participated in the videos below, that are taken from the The Bower’s youtube channel.

RepairWorks Live! Bike Repair w/ Stu and Ash

RepairWorks Live! Furniture Finishing

RepairWorks Live! Restoring Furniture Surfaces

A little more about our Tiny House (with architect & facilitator Ash Menegon)

Repairworks Live! Tiny Houses w/ Luke and Ash

RepairWorks Live! Furniture Refurbishment w/ Ash & Luke

Illustrated Worksheets for ‘The Bower Reuse and Repair Centre’ Woodwork Classes & Tiny House Promo Poster

These worksheets were made by Ashley Menegon for The Bower’s woodwork classes. Each one covers a specific skill or topic and explains key techniques and safety rules for the classroom. They are hand-illustrated, laid out, and finished in colour.

Click each image to view a larger version.

The examples below are just a few of the videos shot and edited by Ashley Menegon as social media content for the Bower Reuse and Repair Centre. They were produced quickly, filmed and edited with limited time and resources, reflecting the practical, fast-paced approach to work that is typical in many not-for-profit environments.

Promotional Videos for The Bower

‘A Day in the Workshop’

‘Bike Repair Promotion’

‘Tiny House For Sale’

‘A Day at The Bower’

‘The Bower - Secondhand Wonderland’

The Bower’s Tiny House Course

As Featured on ABC

Ashley Menegon is featured in the ABC media release below promoting the Bower’s Tiny House Building Course. The Tiny House shown was purchased by Ashley at Lockup stage following the Tiny House course in 2022. The video comes from the media release on the ABC website via the link below.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-08/build-your-own-tiny-home-courses/102572494

Collecting and Preparing Construction Materials

The Bower’s Tiny Houses are constructed using primarily all second hand materials. These are obtained through donations over the year and are then tidied up in readiness for the course as required. Ashley Menegon has been extensively involved in this including sourcing roof sheeting, cladding, denailing oregon framing, making new and repairing broken doors and windows. Understanding quantities and materials available would help dictate Ashley’s designs and working drawings.

Post Course Tiny House Fitout

Following the course, Ashley Menegon finished the house again using all recycled materials. This was an un-planned process fitting out the interior using the backs of bookshelves as wall lining, antique wardrobes and dressers in the kitchen, bedheads as dividers, timber venetian blinds as a bathtub and more. All this sourced from the side of the road, Gumtree, Marketplace or items donated to The Bower.

Design and Working Drawings

Ashley Menegon has 20 years of experience in Architecture and Drafting in various forms. Ashley has prepared the working drawings for all of The Bower’s Tiny House building workshops since 2020.

Ashley Menegon taught various woodwork and construction courses at The Bower over several years including the ‘Intro to woodworking’, ‘Intermediate Woodworking’, ‘Home Diy’, and the ‘Tiny House Building Course’. Ashley has been one of several Tiny House Building course facilitators since 2020 as pictured below. The hands-on course runs over six days with approximately 15 students, typically with limited construction experience, and teaches how to construct a Tiny House up to lockup stage.

Course Facilitator / Teacher

Tiny House Presentations at The Festival of Repair in 2023 & 2024.

Ashley Menegon made presentations at The festival of Repair 2023 & 2024 at Redfern’s 107 Projects explaining the intuitive fit out process of the Tiny House. The video below is an excerpt of the presentation.

Ashley Menegon made this sleeping pod from recycled materials, most particularly a cupboard, that was used by a man sleeping rough in Enmore Park, Marrickville in 2021. This video was also produced by Ashley Menegon.

Additional Community Videos

Cupboard House Project

Morphology Project

‘Morphology’ is a nine metre long sculpture created by Hannah Cheetham, Jono Everett and 170 members of the public as a part of Newcastle’s Annual Art festival New Annual. This video below was created by Ashley Menegon on the day of the install in Newcastle’s Wheeler Place.

Chris’ Crazy Passion

Ashley Menegon shot and edited the video below to be entered into ABC’s ‘My Crazy Passion’ competition in 2014. The video features Chris Bentley from Newcastle and all his fantastic 'vultures and critters'. Chris is a creative in all forms and these are just a small portion of the things he has created, and is involved in.