Women gathering at Grafton for a big river dreaming

It’s the 14th Annual Women’s Gathering and women from all walks of life from across NSW, will be making their way to Grafton for the weekend of 20-22 October.

There will be a full program of workshops, guest speakers, river and island tours, great food and entertainment. The Gathering is also going live on-line with Project Sprout.

Keynote speakers include Pauline Clague, from the Yeagl/Bundjalung Nation, a film and television producer/writer/director with credits including producing SBS’s Message Stick. 

Jenny Hutson, originally a Grafton gal, will also deliver a keynote address. Now based in Brisbane, she chairs an ASX listed company and is managing director of a merchant and investment bank. 

Mandy Nolan, one of the North Coast’s best known comic talents, will entertain at the Gathering’s official dinner on Saturday night. She will also be holding a workshop, ‘The Path of Laugh’. 

There will be a huge array of workshops such as  looking for work, starting a small business, farm-based enterprise, climate change, solar power, occupational health and safety, managing money, estates and wills, tenancy issues, ‘sexually acquired debt’, post-retirement lifestyles, home loans, domestic violence, sexual health, waterway health, and enabling leadership.

Global networking specialist, Robyn Henderson, will share insider tips in ‘Getting Connected’, a workshop to help women network their way, including via cyberspace, into succeeding in community, career, business and everywhere else.

For the artistic and crafty, there will be patchwork, jewellery making, knitting, scrap booking, decorating felt bears and a singing in four part harmony workshop and a wine appreciation workshop.

For the body, sample Middle Eastern drumming, belly dance, Pilates, or Wu Tao, a Chinese healing technique which combines dance, music and meditation.  Also in the ‘life affirming’ vein are workshops on conversation, work/life balance, the collaborative exploration of community ‘Big River Dreaming’, and a Sunday celebration of Women’s Spirituality.

Other highlights of the workshop program include Leisa Clague presenting ‘Healthy Bubs and Sista Speak’, about the ‘street-wize’ process of creating communications tools to reach young indigenous people. 

Sponsors of this year’s Gathering are NSW Department of Primary Industries, North Coast Institute of TAFE, NSW FTO, St Lawrence and Associates Consulting Services, IPAA – NSW, NSW Farmers, 2GF, 104.7FM and The Daily Examiner newspaper.

The organising committee would like to invite all women (and their partners for the partner's program) to the Gathering. Please register before 9 October using the registration forms.

For full details go to www.womensgathering2006.org.au or email info@womensgathering2006.org.au or telephone Vicki St Lawrence on (02) 6642 9700.