IT’S more about getting together and chatting – having a laugh with friends and breaking the loneliness some women suffer as the years progress.
Importantly, it’s about making new friends, learning and teaching new crafts and enjoying days out across the vast north-west plains and beyond.
On Tuesday, the Moree Women’s Shed celebrated the move to new headquarters by hosting Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea, a Cancer Council national initiative held each May to raise money and awareness for those impacted by cancer.
In a move for the ages, Moree Women’s Shed is now under the same roof as Moree Men’s Shed, with Women’s Shed vice-president, Betty Downes, saying the move was a perfect solution.
“The men invited us here and gave us our own space, where we can sit and chat. They also gave us a storage area and built some shelves for extra storage,” Betty said.
“The men are here Wednesdays and Saturdays, and we’re here every Tuesday, so we’re not overlapping,” she said.
Moree Men’s Shed president, Eric Noakes, said inviting the ladies to share their space was a ‘given’.
“We only use the shed two mornings a week, so why not have the ladies here as well,” Eric said.
“We put the proposal to them, and they jumped at it.”
Morning tea organiser, Sue Chittock, said hosting a Biggest Morning Tea was a huge learning curve, and fitted in perfectly with the relocation.
“We went online, registered to hold the morning tea and invited people along, and all money raised goes to the Cancer Council,” Sue said.
About 40 people attended the morning tea throughout the morning, including travellers staying at the nearby showground caravan park.
“This is the first Biggest Morning Tea we’ve held, and already we’re thinking about doing it again next year,” Sue smiled.
Betty said members meet every Tuesday from 9.30am, and encourage and welcome new members. Currently, there are more than 20 ladies who meet and chat, learn new crafts and enjoy outings across the district.
“We’re usually here until around lunchtime,” she said.
“We mainly do crafts and that sort of thing. But it doesn’t matter if people aren’t ‘crafty’, please come along anyway.
“It’s all about making new friends – there’s a lot of lonely ladies out there – and all the ladies here today, I met by joining the Women’s Shed,” she said.
“We’ve been to lots of places, including the Lavender Farm, Bingara, Goondiwindi as well as the local pool where we did the big slide,” Betty laughed.
“We have 23 members at the moment, and there’s room for another 23,” she said.
Member Karen Biggs echoed Betty’s encouragement.
“We’re very laidback and very relaxed, and we do whatever the girls want to do,” Karen said.
“Different ladies have different skills. There are some ladies who never knew how to crochet and now we’ve all learned.
“We were also financial enough to buy some new sewing machines, so we’re now teaching some of the ladies basic sewing skills.
“Ladies bring their skills and share them. We’ve done flower arranging, plant swaps and cooking, but it’s mainly about fellowship,” Karen said.
Moree Women’s Shed
When: Every Tuesday morning
Time: From 9.30am until around lunchtime
Where: Moree Showground, south-eastern corner at Moree Men’s Shed
New members welcome: Contact president Jayne McDouall on Jayne 0428 548616
Email: moreewomensshed@gmail.com
