Tuesday October 15 is the 2024 Rural Women’s Day, an international celebration of the important role that women play in rural areas. New England is ready to celebrate our great women in style, with multiple events occurring across the region to mark the day.
Dimity Smith from GRŌ Events Group is in the depths of organising their 3rd annual event in Tamworth. This year’s will be held at the Tamworth Hotel and is titled “Turning the Tables”.
Turning the Tables will be held on Friday 18 October from 6.30pm and promises to be a fantastic evening.
The event holds a special place in Ms Smith’s heart.
“I started GRŌ 5 years ago in Moree. It was the middle of the drought, we’d just been through the mice plague, things were rough and I had this idea to really start showcasing the amazing women we have in our regional towns – because we all know sometimes, we’re not very good at talking ourselves up!” said Ms Smith.
“We’ve now done 5 years of International Women’s Day celebrations and 3 years for Rural Women’s Day and it’s always just a beautiful opportunity to build women’s knowledge and capacity and have some really big discussions about the important issues in our lives.”
This year’s guest speaker will be Dr Casey Sullivan, NSW Aboriginal Woman of the Year and Tamworth based GP. She’ll be discussing her work in the Tamworth community, and about her mission to advocate for women who are dealing with domestic or family violence.
“I’ve known Casey for a really long time from back when I used to be a psychologist and she is such a fascinating woman. Domestic violence and coercive control are really big issues for women, particularly those who are isolated on farms and a lot of people just don’t realise what to look out for and what they can do – this needs to be spoken about more,” said Ms Smith.
In line with this topic, the event will be raising funds for Gunnedah’s Allawah Cottage. Proceeds from the speakers’ fees, as well as raffle sales and what would usually be spent on gift bags for attendees will all go towards their fundraising efforts to build a second cottage for women and their families who are fleeing domestic violence.
A panel Q&A will also feature on the night, with members including Meg Kennedy from Marketing Directive, Katherine Sherrie, business development manager for FPM Cereal Milling and Matt Bettesworth from Camp Grounds Coffee.
“Meg and Kat are both just incredible inspiring women who will talk about things like getting out of the ‘mum funk’ and working in male dominated industries,” said Ms Smith.
“I’m really glad to have Matt on board because I think unless we involve men in these conversations, it’s just an echo chamber, we also need to hear men’s perspectives on how we can better support women.”
“Life is challenging for women in regional areas, particularly once they start having families – childcare and the cost of living continue to be huge issues so it’s great to be able to open up a dialogue about not just the fluffy stuff but also the big, important subjects.”
“I’d also just like to take this opportunity to thank Luke Prout and his team at the Tamworth Hotel – they’ve all been so incredibly supportive of our event this year!”
Guyra will also host its own Rural Women’s Day event. Bubbles and Canapes is a collaboration between Southern New England Landcare (SNEL) and the CWA Guyra Evening Branch.
Their event will be end on Saturday 12 October from 5:30pm at the Guyra War Memorial Hall.
Elizabeth Rosser, who works for SNEL and is also a member of the CWA Guyra Evening Branch, said, “The collaboration between SNEL and CWA has worked really well, it’s not only opened the event up to a wider audience but SNEL is also donating all proceeds to CWA.”
“This is going to be a fantastic chance for us to all get together in celebration and recognition of the contribution that women in rural areas make.”
Attendees are invited to frock up, with the dress code being set as cocktail for the evening.
Guest speaker for the event will be author Annabelle Brayley.
Ms Brayley, who is also a registered nurse, has written a number of non-fiction books about doctors and nurses working in rural areas, as well as the nurses who served in Vietnam. She is also a regular contributor to RM Williams Outback magazine and works extensively with Girls Talking Ag (GTAg), an organisation that celebrates women in agriculture.
Ms Rosser said that the CWA Guyra Evening Branch currently has around 30 members ranging from teenagers, right through to older women in the community.
“Everything has changed so much for women since my mum’s era but with these changes comes new challenges – isolation and a lack of childcare and healthcare are some of the biggest issues for regional women,” said Ms Rosser.
“This is why CWA is still such a great organisation – it’s just such a supportive group, not only in how we are able to give back to the community, but also in how we provide networking opportunities and support for our women.”
GLENRAC (Glen Innes Natural Resources Advisory Committee), will also once again host a large Rural Women’s Day Event.
The theme of their event for 2024 is “Thrive as a Women in the Modern Era” and will be held on Friday 11 October at the Glen Innes and District Services Club.
Their guest speakers will include women’s health advocate Maree Balmain, Jess Walker from Fit 2 Function and Belinda Hook from BreastScreen NSW.
More information and tickets for all three events are available via the following links:
Guyra Rural Women’s Day Bubbles and Canapes
Tamworth Rural Women’s Day – Turning the Tables
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