A year of growth and support
The Women's Centre Rodney, based in Warkworth, has been supporting women in the community since 1987. Dedicated to providing ways to inform, support, and empower women and their families, with a focus on connecting women with each other and with the Women’s Centre Team, 2023 saw increased and improved services offered under the leadership of Jo Nicholson in her first year as Centre Manager.
Floods and Cyclone Gabriel meant 2023 started for Women’s Centre Rodney with a focus on supporting whanau dealing with a difficult and unexpected start to the year. Fortunately this is what the centre does best and it was not long before women were able to access crisis support, pop in and use the shower, accept a food parcel or simply spend some time with a cup of tea and a friendly face. “We realised that the new year was going to be challenging for many women in our region,” says Jo. “We had to be adaptable and responsive from the outset”.
The centre has continued to provide counselling, a regular legal clinic, personal development, drop in centre support, navigation of local support services and advocacy for women at any stage of their journey. These services were well utilised in 2023 with many new faces coming in and a greatly expanded social media presence.
Due to the pressures of the cost of living crisis, Jo made a commitment at the start of the year to offer a full program at the least amount of cost to women as possible. Courses were subsidised and sponsored so that price would not be a barrier to being involved, while local businesses and clubs offered women the chance to try new activities ranging from squash, golf, making dog biscuits and learning how to make an Instagram reel.
A huge part of the expansion of the Women’s Centre in 2023 was the consolidation of
the Super Grans program. An expanded volunteer base has brought an exciting array of skills and mentoring opportunities to share with the community. Skill sharing was also expanded into the community with Connect Me, a series of workshops run outside of the centre. “We love having the centre in Warkworth and it is the heart of our organisation but we also have seen really positive benefits from taking some of our programs to the community” says Jo.
Another exciting addition to the Women’s Centre Rodney was the beginning of the Women of Worth program. This program centres around being future focused and offers strategies for women to thrive and value themselves, and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. 2024 will see the continuation of this program both at the centre and in community locations.
The Young Mums Group continued to offer a safe and supportive place for young women with children during 2023, and has been enriched with support from volunteers and community members. So too has the vibrant array of workshops and classes on offer which include crafty conversations, making dumplings, art therapy and working in the vegetable garden.
Continuing the work it has been doing for over 30 years the Women’s Centre Rodney also managed to grow and build new programs and welcome many new women to their whanau in 2023. With a warm and bright start to this year, the Women’s Centre will continue to grow and respond to being a positive part of the lives of women in the community.
www.WomensCentreRodney.org.nz | www.facebook.com/WomensCentreRodney