Men’s Shed Collaboration Brings New Life to Brisbane Seniors’ Chapel

A heartwarming community collaboration has helped breathe new life into a chapel at Carinity Wishart Gardens, a Brisbane seniors’ community, giving residents and their families a refreshed space for peace and reflection.

The revamped chapel, which serves both the aged care home and its adjacent retirement village, now features a striking new centrepiece: a cross made entirely from reclaimed pine wood, built over two months by members of the Gateway Men’s Shed.

Much of the work was completed by Ethan Sanders, the group’s youngest member. “Carinity reached out and said that the chapel was getting a bit of a facelift and opening up again. We were asked if we could design, manufacture and install a cross,” Ethan said.

“We’re always taking on new projects at the men’s shed and I had a lot of input from the other guys there. We went back and forth with a couple of different design options and I’m really happy with where we landed with it. The charm of the piece is that we were able to repurpose old material.”

Crafted from three pieces of pine, the cross can be illuminated in 12 different colour tones, allowing the ambience to be adjusted to suit whatever event or service is being held in the chapel. “I initially constructed the cross so that it would sit flat across the wall, but then we thought the LED lights would be such a nice touch, especially to match the beautiful stained-glass windows and the lux and lighting in the room,” Ethan said.

The refreshed space also includes stained-glass windows, scripture readings on the walls, and a television screen displaying bible verses and calming imagery.

Carinity CEO Kevin Griffiths said the chapel plays an important role for residents and their families, regardless of their beliefs. “The heart of what we do is to demonstrate Christ’s love to people who need it. The chapel is such an important reflection of this,” Kevin said. “It’s not just for believers: having a quiet sacred space for people to journey in different stages of life, particularly when they’ve lost a loved one, is a precious gift.”

Kevin added that the partnership between Wishart Gardens and Gateway Men’s Shed has already inspired similar relationships between other Carinity aged care homes and local church-based men’s sheds — a lovely example of community connection enriching the lives of older Australians.