Marchant visits Bellarine Women’s Workshop

THE Bellarine Women’s Workshop have welcomed another visit by Bellarine MP Alison Marchant, and remain on the lookout for a permanent home.

The group started just over 12 months ago, and now has 43 financial members as well as another 1,500 members on its Facebook page.

Based out of Portarlington’s Girl Guides Hall, the workshop’s members – who range in age from their thirties to their eighties – meet two to three times a month.

“It originally started and it has continued for the women who have moved to the Bellarine area or even the Geelong area, or were isolated during COVID,” Bellarine Women’s Workshop chair Davine Pitcher said.

“It’s sort of an outlet for them to come and just be with other women, do craft, do woodwork – and pretty much everyone that comes is saying that they’ve made lots of friends because they were isolated before, so we’re finding that is a common thread.”

Items produced include timber Christmas trees and easels, as well as mosiacs, basket weaving, and junk journals.

Each workshop has a specific theme, but Ms Pitcher said people were also starting to bringing their projects from home.

“It’s really good; this is what we wanted them to do.

“There’s nothing worse than starting something, taking it home and it sits there for three years and it never gets finished.”

She said Ms Marchant had been a strong supporter and a frequent visitor since the early days of the Bellarine Women’s Workshop, even before she was elected as an MP, and most recently dropped by on Thursday last week.

“She always mentions every time she comes in the door ‘I just love the vibe here’; we really appreciate her.”

The workshop rents space at the Girl Guides Hall, which Ms Pitcher said was suitable at the moment but the long-term plan was to establish a purpose-built facility, akin to a Men’s Shed.

“At the moment, the woodworking girls have to pack all this machinery away at the end and bring it out next time, so if we could have a space where they could come in, do their thing, and not have to spend an hour packing it in and out.

“As we grow, we can see that we’re going to need that is ours.

“We try to put the word out to as many people as we can… because you never know; someone just may have something.”

The group also hosts and takes part in several events, including the coming Oaks Day lunch on November 9 and the Drysdale Senior Citizens Christmas market on November 19.

The Bellarine Women’s Workshop meets at the Girl Guides Hall at the Portarlington Recreation Reserve every second Thursday and the second Saturday of each month from 10am-1pm.

For more information, search “Bellarine Women’s Workshop Inc.” on Facebook.