Janene Sadhu, President
2018 is proving to be a busy year for our branch.
We are continuing to focus on the important subject of domestic violence and abuse against women, and are planning to develop a practical resource for women, and a mechanism to offer ongoing support to women who have experienced violence and abuse. These projects are being coordinated by Vicki Alipasinopoulos.
We conduct regular Womentalks teleconferences, where women can get together to talk about specific topics of concern or interest. These have included domestic violence and abuse (more details in this BC News), wellbeing with guest speakers NWB members Meredith Prain and Pearl Sumner, and the pros and cons of working with a dog to enhance mobility, an informative discussion led by NWB committee member Lisa Hayes.
Further Womentalks will take place in July, September and November this year. If you have not taken part yet, are a female member of the Women’s Branch and would like to get involved in this excellent way to share information and meet other branch members via the phone, please contact me using the details provided in the directory at the end of this issue. Participating in a Womentalks teleconference will cost you the charge to a Melbourne phone number on your current phone plan.
Our branch is again hoping to present workshops at BCA State Forums later in the year. News about these will be distributed through New Horizons, SoundAbout, radio programs presented by Peter Greco, and on our Womentalks and VIP Grandparents email lists.
We are also concerned about keeping in touch with those branch members who maybe feeling isolated or a bit lonely. To this end, we would like to invite anybody who would welcome an occasional phone call from a fellow NWB member to get in touch. A chat over the phone is a great way to talk about what’s happening in the world, share your news with someone, and make a new friend. It’s the next best thing to having a visit with someone and distance is no barrier.
So please don’t be shy in putting your name forward if you’d like to receive a call.
As NWB members know, the summer issue of our Aspirations magazine was Jenny Dawson’s final edition as Editor; we now have two co-Editors for the magazine, Rowena Dowling and Vicki Alipasinopoulos. We look forward to reading their first magazine later in the year.
Our Scales Away cook book is still available on MP3 disc or thumb drive for $30, or via email for $20. We’ve made it even easier to purchase, as the BCA office is now accepting payments for this publication. The office is also processing our $10 joining fee for our Women’s Branch, so if you are a current BCA member who would like to join us, please contact BCA.
As always, we welcome suggestions, comments and feedback, so please get in touch if you would like to.
Finally, in April members of our branch were saddened to learn of the death of one of our long-time members, Dolly Lee. Dolly was a trail blazer, an inaugural member of BCA in SA, and her generous spirit and ability to advocate for issues that matter will live on in our National Women’s Branch – Rest in Peace Dolly Lee.
For information about contacting the National Women’s Branch, please see the directory of contact details.