The women from Northparkes Mines and the women from Parkes Painting group show off their amazing creations.
Celebrated annually on 8th March, International Women’s Day (IWD) is a global event and focal point of the women’s rights movement – bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women.
This year, Brooke Plunkett, Organisational Development Specialist for Northparkes Mines organised for their female employees to attend a painting workshop, run by the Parkes Painting Group, to create a series of large artworks that will be donated to the Forbes Women’s Refuge.
Brooke said, “I wanted to create an activity for International Women’s day where we could celebrate our women, do something meaningful and give back to the community.”
Brooke wanted to make sure all of the hard working ladies at Northparkes felt a little spoiled, so along with the painting activity she organised a lovely spread for morning tea. There has been only positive feedback from everyone involved, with the women saying it was a very relaxing activity.
“It shows how Northparkes appreciate the women they employ, by allowing them three hours, on the clock, to volunteer their time to do something enjoyable and at the same time give back to the community. We are very valued,” said Brooke.
Parkes Painting Group representative, Kerry said “Brooke from Northparkes Mines reached out to us to organise the event. The Parkes Painters have never done anything like this before so it has been a bit of a learning curve for us.”
The five large-scale paintings are going to the Forbes Women’s Refuge where they will certainy brighten up the walls for the women and children who use the facility.