Nursing Graduates Association to fold

AN Association set up in 1975 for past students and staff of the Northern District School of Nursing will hold its final ever reunion on Saturday 26 April at Red Energy Arena.

The Northern District School of Nursing oversaw nurse training in hospitals across the northwest of Victoria including Bendigo, Castlemaine, Kyneton, Maryborough, Mildura, Ouyen, St Arnaud, Swan Hill, Dunolly, Inglewood and Echuca between 1950 and 1989.

It was responsible for training more than 3000 nurses during that time and was the only regional independent School of Nursing of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.

It was initially set up to address a need for trained nurses in hospitals across the region.

Following the closure of the school, nurse training in the Loddon Mallee Region was initially transferred to the Bendigo College of Advanced Education and subsequently to La Trobe University.

Keen to ensure the camaraderie and friendships which formed and existed during the school’s life would not be lost, the Northern District School of Nursing Graduates Association was formed in 1975.

Association committee member Jenny Pata said since then, extremely well-attended reunions have been held every five years.

“However, with the Association’s membership numbers decreasing, the Committee of Management has decided that the 2025 reunion will be the last and its affairs wound up,” she said.

If you’d like to make an appearance, please contact Mrs Pata via 0435 529 105 or [email protected] or Jenny Trewartha on 0403 574 131 or [email protected].