The woman helping 5,000 others find female friends in rural communities
When Jackie Elliott moved to an unfamiliar farming community in Western Victoria at 18, she assumed she would have to wait until she had children to make friends with other women.
"When you're in a male-dominated industry, where most of my colleagues were the same age as my dad, there wasn't exactly an opportunity to connect socially with other women my age," Ms Elliott said.
"I always felt that maybe when I have a baby, that might be the opportunity, because you connect then on a social level, because people are in the same season as you."
After nine years of struggling to find women her own age in the town of Byaduk, she decided to do something about it.
She founded Rural Women's Day, a non-profit organisation that holds social events for women working in agriculture and living in isolated areas.
The inaugural Rural Women's Day in Dunkeld in 2019 was meant to be a one-off event. (Supplied: Tenylle Stringer)
Despite the name, Rural Women's Day is not held on a set date. Events are held throughout the year, in different regions.
Ms Elliott quickly found she was not alone.
An accidental success
The first Rural Women's Day was a one-off event in 2019 in Dunkeld, a small town at the foothills of the Grampians about a 40-minute drive from Byaduk.
It has since grown to 50 events across mainland Australia, connecting more than 5,000 women in rural areas.
"I realised that there was obviously a need for something like this," Ms Elliott said.
"You may be geographically isolated, but you (can) still feel connected through Rural Women's Day."
Each event draws about 200 women from the local region, and aims to return to each location every couple of years. (Supplied: Georgie Morrison)
Ms Elliott said that before hosting the event, she thought she could only meet a very small number of people through local community groups, which were usually town-based.
"I wanted to probably look a bit further outside our own backyard," she said.
"When women are able to engage and attend an event, it becomes something on their calendar that they want to try and get to regardless of how far they have to travel."
When Rural Women's Day visits a region, Ms Elliott tracks down local women to give talks and hosts a dinner where for people to chat and meet informally.
Jackie Elliott attends almost every event she puts on across the country. (Supplied: Tenylle Stringer)
The event returns to each region every couple of years.
"Now, when I go to an event, someone will say to me, 'This is my third event I'm attending and this is my best friend. We sat next to each other at the first event, didn't know each other beforehand, found out we only lived not far down the road from each other and now we do everything together,'" she said.
"People are finding their best friend at Rural Women's Day."
Mental health benefits
Ms Elliott said sometimes the best thing women could do for their mental health was chat with like-minded people.
"Men and women need different means and ways of feeling less isolated," she said.
"It was just nice to hear someone that sounded the same as me, and they're struggling with some of the same things or they've found a solution that helps, and maybe I'll try that too."
Jackie Elliott says she makes sure every event is catered, as women deserve a day where they aren't expected to bring a plate. (Supplied: Georgie Morrison)
When Ms Elliott had her first child last year, she said she no longer felt pressure to use motherhood as a way to meet people.
The attendees of one of her events even surprised her with a baby shower.
"Rural Women's Day provided me a purpose, and being a mum is a new purpose," she said.
"I'm really fortunate that I've been able to find a way to have them at the same time."
Rural Women's Day events have been held in Rockhampton, Narromine, Young, Nagambie, Moama and Dunkeld this year.
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