The Beechworth Women’s Shed has only just begun, but it’s already achieved what it set out to do.
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A group of women have been meeting informally since the beginning of the month, after Margy Barwood put forward the proposal to the community.
The idea – to bolster women’s independence and provide a social space – sat well with Wooragee’s Faye Gilbey.
“Even though many country women are outgoing, we can also be very isolated,” she said.
“I live on a small property – my closest neighbour is a kilometre away.
“Another lady who was here is my neighbour, who lives on 90 acres.
“We need somewhere we can go that’s social – it can be confronting meeting new people.”
It can be even more confronting when you are new to the area – as is Barbara Brown, who recently moved to Wooragee.
“Coming along is about getting out and meeting people, and by doing something at the same time, I’m not as nervous,” she said.
“We’re talking about doing some wool spinning classes too, and I love the stained glass Margy does.
“It’s not all about arts and craft, but how to maintain things at home and learning how to use the tools.”
On Friday, 10 women gathered at Mrs Barwood’s home to launch into their first project – reusable shopping bags.
“We plan to make a heap of bags and work out how they can be put into the community,” she said.
“We think, if people have forgotten their bags, they can pick them up, use them, wash them and return them.
“They’re not to compete with the Beechworth Chamber of Commerce bag; the bags we’re making are just a free alternative to plastic.
“We’re using pillow cases, sheets and up-cycling products that have had their day, to give them another use.”
Mrs Barwood said it was an exciting start to the Women’s Shed, with a meeting on February 4 to determine a committee and the search continuing for a permanent meeting place.
“I wrote to Beechworth Neighbourhood Centre for the auspice and I got a reply yesterday saying they were excited by the project but this year they had too much on their plate,” she said.
“Now that I’ve actually got a letter drafted, I can send that to other places.
“I hope to take a basket-full of our bags to the next council meeting.”
