WHEN Sheilagh Kentish was growing up in England, being an active community member was the norm.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll my family were always doing something, they were always in the Guides or the Scouts, or some community groups,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur parents encouraged that, because it was entertainment for us, but it was just the thing that people did in those days.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou learnt how to get along in a team, and you learnt that it wasn\u2019t all about you, it was about working towards something, and that you were an important part within that something.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beginning her career, Mrs Kentish became a teacher and mother to three children. Life certainly wasn\u2019t all about her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI soon found myself in a situation working with people with special needs, and then had my own daughter with special needs, an intellectual disability,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
In Ballarat, she worked at Our Lady Help of Christians and SMB. Having taken some students up to enjoy the Ballarat Community Garden, next to the old Queen Street state school, Mrs Kentish was invited to get involved with the committee in 2005.<\/p>\n
\u201cI retired and thought, I want to do something a bit different,\u201d she said. \u201cMy life has just been taken over by the Community Garden which is a lovely thing to be involved with and taken over by.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, Mrs Kentish is Ballarat Community Garden\u2019s chairperson, within a very \u201chands on\u201d committee, encouraging the health and garden education of Ballarat\u2019s youth and elders.<\/p>\n
In this role, she dedicates the equivalent of three working days a week, getting to enjoy potting and seed growing, but mostly engaging her \u201cpassion for bringing people together as a community to support each other but also to support themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere, we do have people with special needs. We have people across the board from professional people, to people who are really struggling to find work,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey all come in and they all get their hands dirty, they all grow vegetables, they all have success and failures, so it\u2019s just wonderful and they can support each other in various ways. I\u2019m amazed at what people do.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just nice that everyone can feel valued and I think that\u2019s really important in our community these days. It\u2019s good fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Being \u2018valued\u2019 is an essential part of this story. In Mrs Kentish\u2019s commitment to her active role as chairperson, she is valued deeply by everyone who enjoys the thriving space.<\/p>\n
This is why she\u2019s a Zonta Ballarat Great Woman of 2019, nominated by Leo Rennie, a member of the Ballarat Community Garden.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really lovely. I feel very privileged,\u201d Mrs Kentish said. \u201cIt\u2019s nice to have the recognition, I\u2019m honoured.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel very humble that somebody\u2019s actually thought that I was doing a good enough job to be put forward in the first place. It\u2019s extraordinary.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really nice to have the work I have done acknowledged. I don\u2019t think we celebrate the successes of organisations and people enough, when people do a lot of work behind the scenes.\u201d<\/p>\n
But beyond the garden, there\u2019s more to Sheilagh Kentish. She was heavily involved with fundraising for breast cancer organisations and local research, running the Mini Field of Women, because she survived the disease.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the time I didn\u2019t experience any bad symptoms except for the cure,\u201d she said. \u201cAfterwards you think, that could have gone either way, I\u2019m a bit lucky to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n
With that resilient attitude she\u2019s enjoying life and the treats it has in store for her. With Barry, her husband, Mrs Kentish loves travelling.<\/p>\n
Together they have a bucket list and Africa and South America are up the top.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were lucky enough in the 70s to catch public transport all the way across to Delhi from Istanbul. It was just amazing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cQuite scary on occasions, but you could go through Afghanistan and Iran and Pakistan in those days, so it was pretty special.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur family, of course, is in the UK so I\u2019m going back there next month to catch up with family which is good fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
When they\u2019re not away, the pair enjoy time with their four grandchildren, and the arts.<\/p>\n
Last weekend, they headed down to the Port Fairy \u2018Folkie,\u2019 and Mrs Kentish started a storytelling group a few years ago, reading to all age groups, sometimes working with trainee teachers at ACU Ballarat.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know I\u2019m supposed to be here for something,\u201d she said, \u201clet\u2019s work out what it\u2019s all about.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WHEN Sheilagh Kentish was growing up in England, being an active community member was the norm. \u201cAll my family were always doing something, they were always in the Guides or the Scouts, or some community groups,\u201d she said. \u201cOur parents encouraged that, because it was entertainment for us, but it was just the thing that […]<\/p>\n