Blacktown OWN

In late 2003, a number of older women in the area attended an Older Women and Domestic Violence meeting, and it was here that the idea for an OWN group in Blacktown first emerged. Then, in November 2003, members from Parramatta OWN and Penrith OWN attended one of our planning meetings, and it was through their enthusiastic stories about what an Older Women's Network group can offer that we were inspired to hold a public Forum.

With the support of Council's Community Development worker, Pam Hawkins, we held the public Forum in Blacktown Council premises in March 2004 which saw our group really get off the ground.

By July 2004, we had 62 members. We currently have around fifty members on our books, though not all of them are actively involved in activities, which are now held in the Rooty Hill Seniors Centre.

Community involvement is a special focus for Blacktown OWN, with members representing older women on the Seniors Advisory Committee (Blacktown Council), and maintaining contact with the Aboriginal community and the Multicultural Group in Lalor Park. We also support one of the disadvantaged schools in our area - Eastern Creek Public School. In September, we held a Meet the Candidates forum, to which we welcomed candidates from Federal Labor, Federal Liberal, and Federal Greens. The candidates spoke about their respective policies and answered our questions.

Our premises at Rooty Hill are open every Wednesday from 10am until 2pm for members and friends to 'drop-in' for coffee and a chat. We warmly welcome any older women who might like to drop in to see who we are and what we do.

For more information, please contact OWN NSW (02) 9247 7046 or email info@ownnsw.org.au

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