Garden Village is delighted sponsor the Hastings Business Women’s Network (HBWN) International Women’s Day event at Cassegrain Winery in Port Macquarie.
Hosted by HBWN and Member for Port Macquarie, Hon. Leslie Williams MP, this premier event is a community-wide celebration of empowerment and action.
“Our team of 260 employees is over 90% women, highlighting the vital role women play in the Aged Care and Support at Home sector. This sponsorship reflects our ongoing commitment to supporting women in our community, a tradition that dates back to the opening of our first nursing home in 1979,” said Craig Wearne, CEO Garden Village.
A history of women caring for women
Over the past 45 years, Garden Village has seen significant generational shifts in women’s roles and responsibilities. One of our residents Shirley Avent who is in her 90s once volunteered at Garden Village 40 years ago, when her own mum was in aged care. Those were the days when more women had time to volunteer for local community organisations. In the early days, we were fortunate to have many female volunteers supporting our ageing community at Garden Village.
“In recent years as more women work full time, we’ve observed more challenges with finding volunteers who once supported the care sector,” said Jo McNamara Community Engagement Manager. If anyone would like to volunteer they’re encouraged to get in touch with Garden Village.
Looking ahead accelerating careers for aspiring nurses
Garden Village is a forward looking organisation keen to accelerate the careers of future nurses by supporting students with Scholarships in partnership with TAFE and Charles Sturt University, applications are open now. For the third consecutive year, Garden Village is proud to offer nursing scholarships to local students supporting careers in health and aged care.
Caught in the gap the sandwich generation
Another challenge in recent times is the increasing pressure on women who are juggling careers, raising families and are responsible for ageing parents. Every day, millions of Australians balance caring for ageing parents with work and family responsibilities. Did you know women make up 72% of primary carers to people with disability and older people.
Often referred to as the sandwich generation women often carry a responsibility for the health and wellbeing of multiple generations. If you are navigating this at the moment hop online to Violet and support their petition and have your voice heard.
“We understand the balancing act many professional women face today – managing careers and often caring for both ageing parents and children. Garden Village offers high-quality Home Care services, specifically designed to support women in navigating these complex family responsibilities,” added Jo.
You can access Garden Village Home Care Support workers who travel to people across the Port Macquarie-Hastings region, enabling people to receive care in the comfort of their own homes
Accelerating Action for gender equality
As we look towards International Women’s Day 2025, we’re reminded of the need to accelerate action for gender equality. The theme “March Forward” calls on us all to take steps to turn commitments into action. At Garden Village, we’re answering this call by:
- Promoting women in leadership positions within our organisation
- Offering flexible work arrangements where possible to support work-life balance
- Providing career development opportunities for our female workforce
- Actively advocating for policies that address the pay inequity in the aged care sector
- Support women’s safety through training and awareness with Liberty Domestic and Family Violence Specialist Services
- Recognise the value of the caring economy and provide Home Care support services to meet the needs of our community
At Garden Village, we’ll continue to support women across generations, adapting our services to meet their changing needs and working towards a more inclusive and equitable society.
