October 2006 Rural Women Magazine, New Zealand

8/9/2019 October 2006 Rural Women Magazine, New Zealand

1/8Strengthening Rural Communities Page

O F F I C I A L J O U R N A L O F R U R A L W O M E N N E W Z E A L A N D ISSUE No. 4 October 2006

New rural career opportunity

Wellington network launched

Southland Womens Week

WIF and WAG go to town

in this issue...

Since 2002 the Government has pouredover $40 million of extra funding in torural health, specically to address thegrowing shortage of doctors and nurses inrural areas. The funds have been allocated

in two areas: reasonable roster fundingand workforce retention.

The workforce retention money hasenabled DHBs to pay for locums, staffdevelopment and the employment ofmore practice nurses to help with daytimeworkload, and the reasonable rosterfunding is allocated on a case by case basisto relieve doctors who may otherwise be oncall every night or every second night.

But is it enough? What impact has the newfunding had? An internet survey of ruralGPs and nurses providing after-hours

oncall services has just been released, andthe results are disturbing. Commissioned

by the New Zealand Rural GeneralPractitioners Network, the survey is beingreported in three parts. The first partcovers the impact of oncall work on healthproviders and their families, the second part their views onPRIME (Primary Response in Medical Emergencies) and thethird suggests workable solutions to providing rural after-hours care.

Rural doctors and nurses surveyed said that their work waschallenging and rewarding, but they also reported manynegative factors including the psychological stress of having to

be available overnight and at weekends, sleep deprivation fromcallouts and its effects on family life. Rural GPs are workingan average of 60 hours a week, while urban GPs work around46 hours. Those surveyed identied oncall work as a majorobstacle in recruiting both permanent staff and locums and saidit was one of the main reasons for considering leaving ruralpractice. Rural nurses doing after hours work have an evenhigher oncall frequency than doctors, with 71% of rural nurseson call 1 in 1 or 1 in 2, compared to 13.5% of rural GPs.

Tempting new graduates to go into rural health will remaina problem until the oncall after hours situation is properlyaddressed by DHBs.

One group that does encourage health students to try rural

practice is the Matagouri Club, based at Otago University.Run by the students themselves, the clubs main aim is toincrease the number of health professionals working in ruralareas throughout New Zealand. Modelled on the AustralianRural Health Network, the club encourages secondary schoolstudents from rural areas to consider taking health science at

university, based on research that has shown that studentswho come from rural areas are more likely to consider workingin rural practice.

The New Zealand Institute of Rural Health is taking a similarapproach and recently held two successful rural health careersexpos in the Waikato as well as facilitating relevant workexperience days for high school students and putting them in touch

with mentors already studying health subjects at university.The Matagouri Club also encourages urban students to takeon rural placements during their studies, to give them a tasteof what rural life has to offer, with the hope that when theygraduate theyll want more. The Club has recently approachedRural Women New Zealand to see if we can assist by providing

billets to students during their six-week placements, to reducecosts to students and to provide support and companionshipwhen they are away from home in rural communities. Weare keen to help and Council is currently drawing up termsof reference. This is particularly topical as recently there have

been reports that these rural placements may be under threat due tofunding shortages at the University of Otago Medical School.

In 2002 Rural Women New Zealand conducted a comprehensiverural health survey (available on our website), whichhighlighted many of the problems being faced in accessinghealth services. Have things changed in your community? Hasthe extra funding made a difference? Write to us at nationalofce, or email [email protected].

Matagouri Club students giving blood pressure checks at the Fairlie A & P show

Attracting and keeping health practitioners - a rural dilemma


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l EditorialMany of us have allowedourselves to be nominatedfor an elected positionat some time. You willremember the apprehension,the feelings of What on earthhave I let myself in for? Willanyone vote for me? Thepanic I cant do it. Am Ireally capable? Do I know anything? Will I be able tomake a worthwhile contribution?

At this time next year there will be many potentialcandidates in our local communities who will havesimilar thoughts and doubts as the local body electionsare held. Many rural people, having considered thepossibility of putting themselves forward, will havereneged and opted out of the race.

Over recent years Rural Women New Zealand hashighlighted how much harder it is to elect rural

candidates whether for the District or RegionalCouncils, District Hospital Boards or Community

Boards. The trend towards greater urban representation hasincreased to the detriment of rural communities as a result ofthe Local Electoral Act, 2001. The concept of fair and effectiverepresentation of communities has been lost due to theemphasis on equality of representation by population numbers,rather than areas of common interest. Rural communities are

being affected by a creeping erosion of rural representation.

Now is the time for us as rural residents to stand up and becounted, to be proactive and supportive. To ensure continued,vocal and adequate representation we have to become actively

involved. We must make the rural voice heard, understood andnoted and do our darndest to get the sort of representationwe are entitled to.

In the next few months we have to identify and persuade ruralpeople with the appropriate skills and expertise to accept theseonerous positions. Thanks to recent legislation, local bodyrepresentatives serve a more widespread constituency, needto travel greater distances to serve their communities and mustmake themselves permanently available to talk with and hearthe concerns affecting their rural area.

We must be seen to be upfront - whether as candidates

ourselves or as active supporters for our local ruralrepresentative. RWNZ must support them to the hilt. Wemust take every opportunity to promote them and encourageothers to vote for them, in urban as well as rural areas. Wemust write letters of support to local papers, attend in largenumbers at all meetings where our candidates are present, ringthe local radio talkback and promote the rural cause and lobbyhard through our organisation locally. Once our candidateshave been successfully elected we cannot relax. We have anobligation to assist and provide support to them throughouttheir term of ofce, with regular two way communication andinformation or perhaps transport around the district. Thereare a myriad of ways.

This then is our responsibilty. If we want effective andadequate rural representation we have to be seen to be ghtingto retain it and determined that rural communities do not

become further disenfranchised. Dont sit back and moan. Getstuck in and do something.

World Rural Womens DayOn October 15 women around the globe will be celebrating

World Rural Womens Day. The theme this year is Rural

Women: Leaders of Tomorrow.

National Councillor and Associated Country Women of the

World (ACWW) member, Marie Appleton, says The idea is

for those of us who are in positions where it is possible to be

in leadership roles to encourage those developing countries

where women are much less fortunate.

In this country, the theme of this years World Rural Womens

Day sits comfortably alongside the focus of Suffrage Day which

was celebrated in September. This highlit the roles women

are now playing in the management and governance of New

Zealand businesses, and where we are heading in the future.

Women now make up 43% of members on State Services

Boards, after a Government drive to achieve 50% membership

by 2010.

Now its the turn of private companies to take up the challenge

of identifying women to take on leadership roles. Presentlywomen make up only 7% of directors of the NZX Top 100

companies.

Three new databases are being set up which will make it easier

for private sector companies to nd women with the skills

and experience necessary for board roles. The rst is being

built by Waikato Universitys Management School, the second

by the Auckland Chamber of Commerce which is aimed at

small to medium enterprises seeking new board members,

and the third, Real Contacts for Directors is being set up by

Computer Support Enzed.

Meanwhile RWNZ groups will be marking World Rural

Womens Day with a wide range of events.

In the Far North, Doubtless Bay branch have invited the head

boy and girl from the local Taipa Area school to lunch, and to

speak about their hopes and aspirations for themselves and

the district. In Taranaki members will be busy analysing their

personality types at a fun lled dinner with award winning

international speaker, Allison Mooney, while King Country

members will be getting tips on making the most of their

personal appearance with image consultant Jan Fisher at a

Cowshed to Catwalk Day.

Canterbury members are visiting the historic Homebush

Estate at Dareld, and itll be an 18 Carat Gold Day for Otago

members visiting the Macraes Oceana Gold Mine, followed

by a talk from environmental experts and Janet Gregory of

NZ Landcare Trust.

Muhunoa East is holding a pot luck dinner and membership

drive with members all bringing at least one guest; Otewa

Provincial is doing the Ruakuri Walk at Waitomo, and Tararua

Provincial members are off to see the show Heres Hilda at

Dannevirke Fountain Theatre.

Nelson North women will have their sewing machines outmaking wheat bags for Nelson Public Hospital and Brightwater

Branch is having a special church service and speaker, while

Mahakipawa Branch is celebrating its 80th birthday with a

get together for past and present members.



issues

Whats up, Wellington?

Its been a long wet winter in Wellington,but the staff in national ofce have kept theirngers warm, pounding the keyboards ...

Our part-time policy analyst, Jo-AnneStokes, has worked on submissions ondrinking water, the Telecommunications

Amendment Bill (which concerns operationaland structural separation of Telecom) and theWaste Minimisation Bill. She has also beenresearching the issue of rural representation.

Noeline Holts inspiration to revive the formerMAF digest Rural Bulletin has broughtpraise for RWNZs initiative from manyquarters. We welcome onboard the former editorsPaddy Twist and Craig Matthews and thank thesponsors we have secured to date - Telecom, MainlandMinerals, FarmSafe and Meat & Wool New Zealand.

More sponsors are being sought.

Noeline has also met recently with the NZ Institute ofRural Health, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs andthe Minister of Rural Affairs.

Jackie Edkins and Noeline Holt attended a Suffrage Dayevent at Premier House, along with representativesof many womens groups. Helen Clark and WomensAffairs Minister Lianne Dalziel addressed the guestsand we also had the opportunity to speak with othermembers of the Labour Womens caucus and the

Speaker, Margaret Wilson, about rural issues.Back in the office we haveadvertised for a new Lillian.Lill ian McIver, our officeadministrator, is workingtowards retirement, but after 16years in the job there needs to

be a large amount of knowledgetransfer rst, so Lillian will beeasing out slowly. Lillian willcut back to two days a week, and

the new Lillian - once we ndher - will work for three days.

One of New Zealands top chefs, Rex Morgan, tempted thepalates of a large group of Taranaki women with a selectionof mouth watering beef and lamb dishes that he whipped

up at the home of Delwyn Honeyeld in Motunui duringa recent cooking demonstration sponsored by the Beef &Lamb Marketing Bureau.

The women and two men who attended sipped Pinot andSyrah wines recommended by the chef as they sampledthe tasty dishes.

Feedback on the event was extremely positive, peopleenjoyed themselves and having one of New Zealands topchefs was a real attraction. And we even gained a newmember, says Elma Honeyeld.

A very successful Beef and Lamb day was also held inAugust on Banks Peninsula, with celebrity chef Jeremy

Grifths.

Land Access update

Around 1400 submissions were received by the WalkingAccess Consultation Panel, headed by South CanterburyFarmer, John Acland, following a series of publicconsultation meetings around the country that began inMay.

The panel is now reading all the submissions and writing adraft report. The rst draft will be reviewed with individual

stakeholders, including RWNZ, in November, and thenthere will be a roundtable discussion with all stakeholdersto discuss a nal draft in December, before presenting thereport to the Minister in the new year.

The Walking Access Consultation Panel will be aiming fora balance between satisfying the wishes of New Zealandersto have reasonable access on foot along rivers, lakes and thecoast, with the rights of landholders to manage who may

enter private land and what they do on it.

Lillian McIver

Celebrity Ches cook up

Would you like to be a Consumer Watchdog?

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs (MCA) provides anominations service to government agencies to help themnd suitable Consumer Representatives for nominationto government agency boards, advisory groups andcommittees.

The MCA recruits and trains Consumer Representativesfrom around the country who help provide two waycommunication between consumers and the Government onnew policies and legislative change. For more informationcontact Kitty Bennett at the Ministry of Consumer Affairs,(04) 474 2 692

Celebrity chef Rex MorganPhoto: Taranaki Daily News

Wise Quacks and Bray or Inspiration

Congratulations to the winners of our book giveaways:Deborah White, Mrs L W Babington, Margaret Osborne, LouWills, A R Dawson, Marianne Scott, Zeta Pringle, MonicaAnderson, Diane Glennie and Nancy Dermody. Wise Quacksand Bray for Inspiration are published by New HollandPublishers.



fea

tureCarving Careers out

in Rural NZFollowing a non-farming career can be difcult forwomen living in the more remote rural locations, butthe advent of the internet has seen some exciting newcareer opportunities emerge.

One such career is that of the remote-based medical

transcriptionist. In New Zealand, the medical typistusually works in a hospital or specialist doctor setting.But in the United States, a signicant proportion ofthis work is outsourced to skilled professionals whowork from their own home ofce.

In recent times, outsourcing has been associated withthe Philippines and India. In 2002, Rosemary TurnerWaugh, the managing director of TranscriptionzLtd, set out to attract some of this offshore businessto NZ.

It was slow to begin with, but we found that the US marketwas well disposed to the idea that NZ transcriptionists could

be just as effective as a US-based person. Our challenge hasbeen turning the idea into contracts. We now have strong linkswith the US.

Having won the contract, Rosemarys next challenge was tond people with the right level of skill for the US market.Rosemary and an educational colleague, Sue McDonald,

joined forces with a training company in the US. The result isthe recent introduction of an NZQA (Level Four) accreditedon-line training programme. Their company TranzMed alsoruns continuing education programmes for people who arealready trained medical typists, who wish to upskill for theUS market. The full course takes 40 weeks to complete, and

attracts a student loan for participants.We have our own NZ-based facilitators who will help our peopleachieve the high standards required by the course material.

An additional advantage of this qualication is the abilityto lead a person to become accredited as a Certied MedicalTranscriptionist (CMT) and gain a recognised internationalqualication

Merrill Kenyon runs Te Puna Cottage Gardens andrhododendron nursery with her husband. But Merrill hadlong wanted to go back to her career as a medical typist. I lovetyping and loved working in the medical eld. When I heard

about the opportunities in outsourced medical transcription,I decided I would retrain myself to be able to work entirelyfrom home in the future.

Merrill is now working in the US market. When you workfrom home, you have to be organised and disciplined. Youhave to like working out problems, have good hearing andpay attention to the detail. It helps if you have some computerskills as well, and of course you have to love typing! A personwho wants to get it right is the type of person who will makea good transcriptionist.

Flexible hours, no travelling time or costs and being able to workaround other tasks can make home-based work appealing.

Rosemary is particularly keen to hear from ex-nurses or ex-secretaries looking to develop a new career from home.

People wishing to nd out more about the course can call0800-999-626.

Rural Women are Everywhere!Did you know there is a rural women branch in the heart ofWellington city? Called the Rural Women Wellington Networkit was started by Executive Ofcer Noeline Holt and RWNZmember Sue Trezise. The network holds a monthly breakfastmeeting at Leuven, a Bavarian themed caf, in FeatherstonStreet.

We thought we would show some solidarity with farming

people by having an early start, laughs Noeline. In truthmembers nd the before-work meeting is the most convenienttime.

Members come from all walks of city life including Parliament,government departments, non-government organizations, orown their own businesses. They all have one thing in commonand that is an interest in rural issues. Most have lived in ruralcommunities and one or two still own farms or commute fromthe country for work. As the news gets around that thereis a Rural Women New Zealand meeting in Wellington thenetwork grows. A large crowd met in September for the thirdmeeting to discuss issues of concern in rural communities, tonetwork, and share ideas.

Initially people were invited to join by email. However themost successful approach has been the phone call or a visitto tell people about the meetings. For all the technologythat is available there is nothing that comes close to personalcontact, says Sue.

If you are visiting or living in Wellington and would like tocome along to the Network, call Noeline on (04) 473 5524 oremail [email protected] for meeting dates.

Wish to Make a Comment? A How to Guide

Council wishes to raise members awareness of Rule 18.4under the RWNZ By-Laws which relates to members

communications with other members.

18.4 Rural Women New Zealand Internal Communication Policies:

18.4.1 No member, Branch or other committee except National Council

or its representative may circularise others on any matter without first

obtaining the consent of the National Executive Officer, except in the case

of an RWNZ social event.

This rule ensures members receive consistent and appropriatemessages that are Council-led and are in keeping with theaims of the organisation. There are also remedies that can

be called upon when someones actions are seen to bring ourorganisation into disrepute (Bylaw 14.9)

The RWNZ Constitution and Rules have been developed andreviewed over the years by elected Councillors to ensure thatall information sent to members is credible and supported bythe organisation.

Noelines dreaming of home!Rural Taranaki is still dear tothe heart of RWNZ executiveofcer, Noeline Holt, who recentlystarted an RWNZ group in thecapital.



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Just CarolineGuests at Honda House bed and breakfast inWellington could be in for a special treat if theyhappen to catch Caroline Just, our new manager, ina quiet moment.

Caroline is an accomplished Spanish classical guitarist,and she sometimes plays a beautiful tune or two forher guests.

Caroline will already be well known to many ofour members as she has worked at Honda House invarious roles over the last six years, prior to taking on

the managers role.

I have done everyaspect of the job- house keeper ,weekend host andrelieving manager,so I am enthusiasticabout taking thenext step.

C a r o l i n e s a y s b o o k i n g s h a v e b e e n b u o y a n tsince she becamemanager, especially duringthe Constable paintingsexhibition at Te Papa.

A new computerised reservations system has also beenintroduced, integrating bookings and accounts.

The Honda House management committee members LizMcGruddy, Liz Monk and Mary McTavish have held their

rst meeting and will meet every three months.

Moutere celebrates 7th

Moutere branch celebrated its 75th anniversary with a treeplanting at the new Moutere Hills Community Complexrecently and a lunch at Up the Garden Path for present andpast members, followed by a visit to a local pottery.

Still Shining Brightly at 7

Brightwater Branch celebrated its 75th birthday with a lunch atthe Brightwater Motor Inn recently. 60 past members, invitedguests and friends from other branches poured over old photosand were congratulated by Tasman District Councils deputyMayor Tim King, on their involvement in issues affectingrural communities.

Provincial President Elaine OConnor presented bouquetsand a Branch Life Membership to Pat Wright and a Branch

Bar of Honour to Jean Sutton. The celebration cake was cutby the Branchs oldest member, Rae Hudson, who has been amember since 1957.

Inching Along? Not at Clutha!Inch Clutha is a unique 7,000 acre island in the middle of theClutha River. These days most of the smaller farms haveamalgamated into dairy units, and are run by sharemilkers andtheir workers. It is also the base of a thriving RWNZ branch,with active members ranging from 18 to 80. With some ofour branches nding it difcult to attract younger women, weasked Inch Clutha to share their secrets of success.

President Lorraine Pringle says the older members understandthe trials and tribulations that go with dairy farming and livingon the lower delta and can offer their support to the youngerwomen. The branch is also very proactive in looking for newmembers. They produce an information brochure about thedistrict and deliver one to every new family that moves in,then follow up with a personal visit, inviting the women tocome along to an RWNZ meeting, where they always have aninteresting speaker. A note in the mail a few days beforehandand a ringing tree to remind people on the night also ensurespeople dont forget and can arrange to share transport.

We make the evening stimulating, to give people somethingelse to think about when they go home.

Inch Clutha branch recently celebrated its 60th birthday,attended by life members Ruby Barnett and Shirley Lockhead.Shirley, the groups rst secretary, read out the minutes thatshed written after the rst meeting.

(l to r)

P a t W r i g h t ,Rae Hudson,a n d N o r m aScholeld

Ruby Barnett and Shirley Lockhead cut the 60th birthday cake.



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hlinewelcome to new members

Wendy Suttie - Winchmore

Pam Thomlinson, Janet Hewett -Mahakipawa

Esma Haymes, Jan Piper - Kourawhero

Lisa Davies, Lund Aalsma, Barbara Tweedie, SaraJohnson-Stark, Cynthia Owens, Lynette Woolaston,Ali Undorf-lay - Individual Members.

Kathleen Curtin -Associate Member.

farewell to old friendsBess Coughlin - Spotswood/Moturoa, Nth Taranaki

Marie Curd - Winchmore

Jean Blackett - Rukuhia

Lynne Julian - Tumahu

Dorothy Nelson - Kourawhero

Elsie Slater - Pakawau

Eve Thompson - Rangiwahia

Florence Copeland - Lumsden

Jean Hopper - Tahuna

Leoni Heine -Moutere

Gwen Marx - Pokuru

May They Rest in Peace

honours board

Branch Life Membership

Iola Glassford - Cromwell Branch

Bev Powell, Olwyn Daines -Hamilton Branch

Pat Wright - Brightwater

Moya Schmack - Westereld-Laghmor

Provincial Life MembershipEugenie Henderson, Phyl Hampton -CentralSouthland Provincial

Branch Bar of Honour

Jean Sutton - Brightwater

Nola Sim - Westereld-Laghmor

ICE could help in an emergency

The ICE idea is catching on around the world and is a verysimple, yet important method of contact for you or a loved one

in case of emergency. As cellphones are now carried by themajority of the population, all you need to do is programmethe number of a contact person or persons and store the nameas ICE - In Case of Emergency. In an emergency situation,emergency services personnel or hospital staff can then contactyour next of kin by dialling the number stored under ICE.

Southland Womens Weekraises RWNZ profle

Over 200 Southland women enjoyed a pick and mix of eventsat the inaugural Southland Womens Week recently.

Organised by Regional Development Ofcer Lynley Dean andRegion One National Councillor Rhonda Riddle, the eventwas inspired by a similar annual South Otago event that nowattracts thousands of women.

The key idea was prole-raising for RWNZ, with the ultimategoal of increased membership, says Lynley.

The format of the week was a range of stand-alone workshops,so that people could attend as many events as they wished.

Popular activities included a journalism day with tips ongetting stories and photos into the local press, a calf rearingday on animal health and optimal feeding regimes, and alandscaping and interior design day. Employment lawyerand Invercargill Crown Prosecutor Mary Janet Thomas ran avery informative and relevant session on farm employmentissues, Managing the Farm Team, while women also hadthe chance to explore their creative side with a series of craftdemonstrations, including a sold-out calligraphy workshop.

The week was a great success and Lynley expects to see itbecome an annual event.

This years activities were held mainly in Invercargill, but nextyear Lynley hopes workshops and activities will take placethroughout Southland.

Visiting Wellington?

Stay atHonda House

Bed and Breakfast32 Hawkestone Street, ThorndonTel: (04) 473 7670

or go to www.ruralwomen.org

Meeting facilities, guest kitchen, laundry, lounge,

discount for RWNZ members

Do you have an email address?

Yes? Do you receive messages fromus, including our fortnightly emailnewsletter? No? Then please send us anemail so that we can correct your address.We have many emails that bounce backdue to incorrect addresses or over-efcientspam lters.

Rural BulletinRural Women New Zealand has revived Rural Bulletin, themuch loved publication formerly produced by MAF, thanks

to sponsorship from Telecom, Mainland Minerals, Meat andWool NZ and FarmSafe. If youd like to receive this digestcontaining up to the minute issues affecting the rural sector,please email [email protected] and ask to

be put on the email list, or write to RWNZ, PO Box 12-021,Wellington to receive the hard copy version.

Lois Burnett and friends at the calligraphy workshopPhoto: The Southland Times


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For 28 years Iola Gordon-Glassford has kept

meticulous track of the nances of Cromwell Branch,

having joined RWNZ 43 years ago.

She was taken aback at a Rural Women lunch recently

when she was given a life membership award. The

branch had carefully kept the award a secret from

Iola, who usually has the task of sending cheques tonational ofce when anyone in the branch is awarded

an honours bar.

New life member Iola Glassford with Liz Brown and MargaretPittaway who also received service awards at the luncheon.

Photo: The Lakes District & Central Otago News

A ve-day directors course run

by the New Zealand Institute of

Directors is a great way to brush

up on skills relevant to community

organisations as well as for formal

company directorships, says

Jane Mitchell, the recipient ofthis years RWNZ directorship

scholarship sponsored by Meat

and Wool New Zealand.

Jane says the course was really

worthwhile and will assist her in her roles chairing the Otago

Deer Farmers Association and as a member of the Ballance

Farm Environment Awards committee, as well as on the

Council of Otago Polytechnic.

I would encourage anyone who gets the opportunity to do

the course, which is run with a high calibre of speakers. Keypoints she took from the course included the importance of

being familiar with an organisations Constitution and that

implementation of strategy is more important than developing

a strategy.

M e a n w h i l e t h e

Westereld-Laghmor

g roup e n j oy e d a

special dinner with

husbands and extra

friends in honour

of Moya Schmack

who was awarded

a life membership,

and Nola Sim who

received a bar of honour recently. Both

women were taken by

surprise and the night

was a great success.

Waikato Rural Women NZ have also been honouring two of

their long-serving members. Between them Nancy Myers and

Jean Scott have given 115 years of service to their community.

During those years they have held street stalls and fairs and

raised money for home healthcare, the Red Cross, St Johns,

the local re brigade, Cambridge social services and Karamu

House, a short stay home for the elderly.

Women in leadership training

Liaison GroupsIf youre a newcomer to Rural Women New Zealand youmight hear people talking about Liaison Groups and wonderwhat they are.

We have nine Liaison Groups around the country that act as theeyes and ears of our organisation in identifying anyone in thecommunity who might benet from a little extra help. Set upin 1999, the groups act as a link between our home healthcare

business, Access Homehealth, and the community.

The groups give the company a real feel for what is going on,says Access Homehealth chairperson, Graeme Titcombe. SomeLiaison Group members are also trained as emergency careworkers, to provide cover when a worker isnt available.

Each year Liaison Groups give nancial assistance to thosewho fall through the cracks or need short term support, fromnew mothers to emergency and palliative care cases and theelderly after a stay in hospital.

As well as helping individuals in need, Liaison Groups supporta wide range of community projects. In Southland, for example,

over the last ve years grants have been given to projects asdiverse as a medical centre upgrade, an art competition, WorldRural Womens Day speakers, Christmas cards for homecareclients, an ambulance debrillator, books for a playgroup andthe Western Southland dictionary scheme.

Funding is also available for Branch and Provincial activitiessuch as leadership courses, volunteer expenses, newsletterexpenses, branches wishing to give a special one-off bursaryor grant, farm safety days, agricultural skills days or travelfor training.

Delegates from each Provincial make up the Liaison Groupsand Branches and Provincials apply for funds using an

application form available from the local Liaison Groupfacilitator. Outside organisations cannot apply directly.

Service simply given


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Ofcial Journal of Rural Women New Zealand PO Box 12021, Wellington Tel 04 473 5524 Fax 04 472 8946

Email [email protected] www.ruralwomen.org ISSN no 1171-4425

Editor: Head Ofce, PO Box 12021 Wellington Printer: Precise Print & Design, Paraparaumu

All the way rom Cable Bay Jenny Dymock is our

new RWNZ Regional

Development Ofcer in the

Far North, where shell be

working six hours a week

helping to establish new

groups, support existing

ones and promote Rural

Women New Zealand

and Women in Farming/

Women in Agribusiness.

Jenny lives just a stones

throw from the beach at

Cable Bay, and also has a

100 acre beef farm inland

from the coast where she

and husband Terry raise heifers and grow pine trees.

She can also tell you all you ever wanted to know about

insects, which are her speciality. Originally from the

Waikato, Jenny has a PhD in entomology from Massey

University.

I have worked as a scientist on pastoral and horticultural

pests for the former DSIR in Palmerston North and

Auckland, also CRIs including AgResearch and Crop &

Food Research, and with MAF Auckland as a quarantine

entomologist.

Since moving to the Far North seven years ago Jenny hasworked as a contract entomologist for a number of agencies

including the Department of Conservation, Northland

Regional Council, Citrus Growers Association, Macadamia

Society, Avocado Industry, Hort Research and AgResearch

on insect pests of importance to Northland.

Jennys passion for the environment has also seen her

working for Project Crimson, the Doubtless Bay Marine

Protection Group and the Far North Environment Centre

in Kaitaia.

My particular interest in agriculture is sustainablefarming practices, says Jenny. That is the reduction in

the use of insecticide sprays using biological control agents

and integrated pest management and improvement in

freshwater quality, which ultimately affects our marine

environments.

Jenny is looking forward to the challenges in her new role

as RDO. I enjoy meeting people and am always impressed

by the varied lifestyles and projects underway in rural

communities.

WIF and WAG go to townRepresentatives from Women in Farming and Women inAgribusiness (WIF and WAG) groups from all around thecountry met twice in Wellington over the last couple ofmonths to set up a management structure for the groupsand map out a path to the future.

There are now 16 WIF and WAG groups around thecountry, and more are expected to start up. The groups were

initially set up with three-year seeding funding from theSustainable Farming Fund, which nishes next June.

WIF and WAG members agreed to set up a Core Group- Ruth Rainey, Dianna Jannet and Jenny Lancaster - whowill organise a new executive committee made up of oneWIF/WAG member from each of RWNZs seven regions,who will take up their new management roles in January2007.

The Core Group will also review the remaining fundingallocation from SFF which needsto be allocated by June 2007.

Once in place the new executive

committee will produce a Start

Up Kit for new groups and will

be available to offer mentoring

and support. It will also review

WIF and WAGs funding and

assist RWNZ with the negotiation

of ongoing sponsorship.

In the meantime RWNZ has

produced a new information

brochure for WIF and WAG

which can be photocopied

and handed out at field days

and meetings to prospective

members. Contact Jackie Edkins at national ofce for

further details.

Dianna Jannet one of theCore Group trio

Core group members Ruth Rainey and Jenny Lancaster at the rstWellington focus meeting

Documents

October 2006 Rural Women Magazine, New Zealand