The Heretaunga Women’s Centre – Needs to sell some Ticket Tickets

The Heretaunga Women’s Centre, based in Hastings, is gearing up for its annual September month of celebrations. Margot Wilson Centre Manager says this is special time for the centre, because it’s when the centre takes a pause to look outward from what we do here and celebrate the women of our community - with a month of special and diverse events at a reasonable cost. The Women’s Centre is busy all year with activities such as self-development, healthy living and interest courses from a range of qualified facilitators. Women at the centre can choose from courses aimed at developing social skills and making new friends, to activities designed to promote healing and wellbeing, or support services which provide advocacy for women generally and individually.

This year the special September celebrations start off with a movie night, and later on in the month there will be a forum of women speakers, a story telling event and of course the women’s Ribbon Walk Suffrage celebration.

The big event of the month is our women’s forum called ‘Same Same but Different Different’ which is on the 13th September at 4.30pm - the forum explores what it means to be different in our society and ways that those who are considered different are working to overcome this.

The forum has two keynote speakers and six speakers who are running amazing and thought provoking workshops. The high-profile transgender Politician Georgina Beyer will speak about her life and what it takes to be inclusive in 2019. Beyer spoke last year at the prestigious Oxford union, and in recent years has dueled with end-stage renal failure and fought back with a kidney transplant - will talk about her amazing and very diverse life.

Also confirmed excitingly is Mereana Pitman. Wairoa-born Pitman was recently made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Maori and family violence prevention and has been a prominent campaigner and activist on Maori issues for 25 years. Always controversial, you won’t want to miss what she has to say.

It is fantastic this year to have two younger speakers to make sure the youth voice is heard – Sophie Handford who is 18 and the youth coordinator for the School Strike 4 Climate organization as well as being a youth MP, for the Hon Kris Faafoi and Tabby Beazley the founder and Managing Director of InsideOUT has been volunteering and working in rainbow communities since she was 15, She is the first and only New Zealander to receive a Queen’s Young Leader Award.

Other amazing speakers include Sam Eddie. In 2005 policewomen Sam’s life was turned upside down when she was paralysed following a horse-riding accident. She had to learn to live again and find a whole new direction in her life. Sam has competed representing NZ in hand-cycling. She has worked in the disability field and is always trying to find ‘ life hacks’ and accessibility for those with disability.

Local Hawke’s Bay women Ngaira Harker is the Nurse Director for Maori Health at Hawke’s Bay District Health Board. Ngaira was raised in Napier’s Maraenui and has always had a passion for growing a Maori health workforce and has focused her energies to do this within the education field. Another Hawkes Bay woman, Rizwanna Latiff who has held a variety of roles in the private and public sector, with non-profit governance roles for over 10 years. Rizwanna has just completed working on the ‘Wellbeing Framework for Ethnic women’ and her workshop promises to have great insight into what migrant women are facing in NZ today.

Carole Gordon is a Social Scientist specialising in social and political gerontology, her most recent research and consultancy work includes spatial planning, transport, economic transformation and increasing longevity for aging populations . Carole regularly organises successful Ageing Symposiums on the ‘Silver Economy’ and on ‘Successful Aging’.

All of the speakers, including Georgina Beyer are donating their time to speak. The forum promises to be an outstanding event, and tickets are selling fast.

Tickets and info http://heretaungawomenscentre.nz/

Other events this September include:

Movie Night

On the Basis of Sex Focal Point Cinema 5pm

You won’t want to miss this movie, the true story of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, her struggles for equal rights, and the early cases of a historic career that lead to her nomination and confirmation as U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice.

Ribbon Walk 19th September – At the Centre 10am

This fun event is also known as the suffragette walk. Full of facts and history about the suffragettes. Come and join us here at the Centre for a stroll through the park and be educated, thrilled and amazed!

Story telling Night 19th September – “Did I really Say That” – A binge of teenage cringe!

Venue Common Room

We invite you to join us for a fun night of entertainment, a few drinks, and a trip down memory lane – where adults read things they wrote as teens! This is a fun opportunity to exploit your younger selves for the audience’s entertainment! The idea is simple – women stand and read from their personal teenage or childhood collections of diaries, high school poetry, unsent letters, friendship books etc. We hope to enjoy the worst of your adolescent writing, your most cringeworthy moments and all the things you would rather forget about your youth!

Walk Talk Lunch

29th September

Meet up at midday at the Women’s Centre , have a gentle stroll for half an hour, then return to HWC to listen to an inspiring speaker and then enjoy a shared lunch – pot luck style.

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