Margaret Guppy, group president Val Gibbs and secretary Gwenda Metzke.
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Carol Chacksfield, Jan Lemish, Cathrine Shields, Cheryl Tracey, Lea Watts and Joan Leeder.
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Norma Leslie, Beth Cocks, Jennie Briggs.
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More than 40 members from eight Country Women’s Association branches attended the Eastern Goulburn Valley CWA Spring Conference in Shepparton on Wednesday.
Eastern Goulburn Valley president Val Gibbs said it was a day that many had been looking forward to for some time.
“We’ve had a wonderful conference out here today — there was lots of people from all the branches in this group, which was great to see,” she said.
Ms Gibbs said while it was a valuable time of socialising together, the group was inspired by guest speakers occupational therapist Talia Humphrey and Greater Shepparton City Council Mayor Kim O’Keeffe.
“We had two fabulous guest speakers,” she said.
Ms Gibbs said Ms Humphrey talked about loneliness and shared strategies to overcome it.
“It was great because it gave the women an opportunity to ask questions and people responded really well with interesting questions,” she said.
Ms Gibbs said Cr O’Keeffe encouraged attendees to never give up.
“Kim spoke about her childhood until she became mayor, and her family and the experiences of her family life," she said.
“She has achieved so much in her life and she was open in sharing some of the difficulties she had to overcome to get her to where she is today. It was very inspiring.”
Group secretary Gwenda Metzke said the conference was a great success and one she hoped would expand to reach more people next year.
“We’re always looking for new members,” she said.
“They don’t need to be able to cook amazingly or have craft skills — companionship and comradery is the best part of the CWA because we stop this loneliness so that we can all enjoy life.”
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