A GROUP of women from all walks of life gathered together on Wednesday to celebrate being a woman and to recognise International Women’s Day.
The day recognises the contribution women have made towards the community and is celebrated on March 8.
This year’s theme, 100 years of active women in paid and unpaid work, was relevant to all the women in the Myall Coast community who have jobs or volunteer their time for the betterment of other people’s lives.
This year is also the 10th anniversary of the International Women’s Day breakfast at the North Arm Cove Community Centre.
Organiser of the event Maureen Kelly said she started the breakfast after she attended one in Newcastle in 1997.
“I wanted to help women who were less fortunate than myself,” Ms Kelly said.
Over 100 women gathered at the centre on Wednesday to celebrate the day, reaching the capacity for the hall in North Arm Cove.
The women listened to guest speakers at the breakfast which, this year, included United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNICEF) national president Rosalind Strong.
Ms Strong attended the celebration in North Arm Cove because per capita the area raises the most money for UNICEF each year.
Tea Gardens Primary School principal Sue Estens also spoke at the event and told the Nota that the day was important for the young girls at the school as it showed them the interesting things a woman can do and reinforced the idea that no job was impossible and that girls can inspire to anything.
“Women now have their place in the workforce but they also contribute to family life,” Ms Estens said.
Ms Estens said it she finds it easier for women in the workforce but said they still need to juggle their work commitments and their family life.
“It’s hard for a woman to become a superwoman shown in the magazines, for a normal person it’s a juggling act,” Ms Estens said.
Crighton Lifestyle Resorts CEO Gail Mullins also said that as a young mother she had found it “full on juggling work, children, home and social life.”
Gail has worked her way up the ladder to her current position as CEO over the past 24 years.
She has been in her current role for the nine years and said it was great to work for a company that allowed her to grow with the company.
Ms Mullins acknowledged the diversity of jobs her role provides for her and that in another company she may not have had the same opportunities.
Within a company Ms Mullins believes for some women it is still harder for them to achieve the same result that men can achieve.
“It is important to acknowledge the role women play in world affairs,” Ms Mullins said.
International Women’s Day brings attention to the role that women play within the community and to the issues that women still face in a social sense, work life and family life.
“This is the one day that women can celebrate that they are women,” Ms Kelly said.
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