The Story of our First Afternoon Tea

From our Founder, Bianca Heaney

Our fist afternoon tea was held on Friday 13 March 2020 at the AWH Wool Selling Centre in Tottenham and this is the story of how it came about and how we have thrived and grown.

As I was sitting at our Annual International Women’s Day dinner, that I have helped celebrate and been a part of for the last 26 years, I looked around the room realised how nice it was to recognise women for their achievements. Not only in the community but also in their workplace.

This got me thinking about my workplace and the position and achievements of the women in the wool industry.  Working with and around the wool industry all my life, I have seen the increase of women working within the different sectors. Especially during the last 15 years with The Australian Wool Industries Secretariat and all the associated wool industry organisations I have been involved with. Women have taken on so many roles through the wool supply chain from farm, to laboratory research, production, export to office and everything in between. 

Then, by chance, I read that Duncan and Jess Barber were named ‘The Weekly Times Coles 2019 Sheep Farmer of the Year’.  A fantastic achievement and note of success for a prominent Wool Growing Farm near Bendigo Victoria.

I decided then that it was time to celebrate women’s achievements in the wool industry by holding an afternoon tea for International Women’s Day. I shared my idea with a few women who all thought this was a great idea. We gathered a group of like-minded individuals who banded together to start organising! I wrote to a number of businesses and organisations asking if they could allow their female employee’s some time off to attend a wool forum to celebrate International Women’s Day.  Thankfully, they all agreed.

It didn’t take long for the word to get around that the “Ducks on the Pond” were organising an afternoon tea at the wool selling centre.  The ‘Afternoon Tea’ soon turned into quite the event! The committee sourced sponsorship and gathered five speakers to come and talk about their roles, successes and challenges within the industry.

The AWH dining room was buzzing that Friday afternoon when 40 women arrived to a lavish afternoon tea and listen to the stories of five inspirational women.  Occasionally a few men would pop their heads in the door to see what all the noise was about!

Our inaugural speakers were:

*  Jess Barber, Wool Grower Coliban Park, at Metcalfe south of Bendigo, Victoria.

Spoke about the origin of her flock of sheep which came from Eliza Forlong who brought the first Saxon sheep into Australia.

*       Wilna Vosloo, Research Team Leader at CSIRO working on Emergency Animal Diseases.

Spoke about the work she is doing to prepare Australia for an emergency animal disease outbreak.

*         Trish Esson, Director of Cashmere Connections (wool & alpaca processing facility) Bacchus Marsh.

Told us about the scouring to combing mill her and her husband have set up for a niche market who only have small quantities of wool alpaca or cashmere to process.

*  Emma Beard, a young Fashion Designer showcasing the “Lost & Found Graduate Collection”.

She had just started her journey and enjoyed working with wool as a natural and beautiful fibre.  Her wish is to design costumes for theatre.

*           Sally Jackson, Director United by Wool.

She shared her story on how the online business started.  Along with Michelle and Katja their passion is to make these beautiful wool garments readily available in Australia.

 The feedback was overwhelming! Many of the guest were surprised to hear about the speakers journeys and their roles they had chosen in the wool industry.  All agreed that this celebration MUST continue and that women be recognised in their achievements.

COVID Times

COVID put a temporary stop on the “lavish” afternoon tea but didn’t stop us holding this event via Zoom. Many attended and enjoyed the experience and the chance to listen and share stories. It also gave each other a chance to connect and feel connected through the isolation of Covid.  For me, the moment when one of our guests stayed online until the very end saying that “it was so nice to listen to the speakers and being able to share her story.  Being isolated on a farm in outback Australia was a challenge and this was a great opportunity to talk with other likeminded woman without having to travel kms to the nearest city”.  I was very grateful that we were able to bring joy to someone so isolated. 

Our 2021 Speakers (Link to Events page)

*    Chantel McAlister, Wool Photographer

*     Kate McBride, Tolarno Station

*    Rebecca McErvale, Director LeRoy Mac Designs &  Wool Grower

*      Robyn Clubb, Chair Australian Wool Exchange

Our 2022 Speakers (Link to Events page)

*       Claire Housler, Director Merineo

*       Kathleen Plowman, CEO Animal Health Australia

*       Kristen Frost, Journalist & Wool Grower

*       Stephanie-Brooker Jones, Wool Broker 

Our Story Moving Forward…

Our Forum was not held in March in conjunction with International Women’s Day but in October 2023 I called a meeting of the Women in Wool Committee. This occurred on 2 October 2023 at AWH Wool Selling Centre, Tottenham. We discussed future plans and how we wanted to continue our vision of ‘Connection, Education and Promotion’ and empowering women in the wool industry.

Everyone agreed that there is so much that we can offer going forward.

In 2021, I had officially registered the business name “Women in Wool”.  Given the support, enthusiasm and dedication expressed by the Committee, I decided to hand over the business name so we could set up an industry association.

The Committee could see the future and what we could do to empower women in the wool industry.  So much so that we set up our goals, purpose and composition of the Committee to incorporate Women In Wool as an Association there and then.

The following members formed the inaugural committee for Women in Wool Incorporated.

  President – Victoria Fish

  Vice President / Secretary – Sarah Druce

  Secretary (CAV public officer) – Bianca Heaney

  Treasurer - Stephanie Boyce

  Communications Officer (Website & Marketing) – Donna Robinson

A special meeting was held on 26 October to officially acknowledge and support the establishment of Women in Wool.

The purposes of the organisation were agreed to and an application to Consumer Affairs Victoria along with the minutes of the meeting were sent the next day.  The transfer of the business name then took place and CAV accepted the application.

Women In Wool Incorporated was officially certified on 15 November 2023.

 Members agreed that

*             A logo to be designed to reflect all women in the wool industry

*             A domain name to be registered and a website be setup

*             A launch to be organised in March 2024

*             Invitations be sent out to the industry.

 The official launch will take place on Friday 15 March 2024 at Pelican’s Landing Williamstown Victoria.

Our new logo …..