ANNE Tudor was still a teenager when her 24-year-old brother was killed in a car accident.<\/p>\n
Life already \u201cfelt serious,\u201d and subsequently her caring, social justice-centred attitude emerged.<\/p>\n
Moving from Gordon to Rabaul in Papua New Guinea for three years, she worked as a teacher.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d had this idealistic idea, which was truly false, that people in Papua New Guinea were less advantaged than us,\u201d Ms Tudor said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have this wonderful Wantok system where communities support each other. They lived in villages, and if one person had a job, the money went to the family in the village.<\/p>\n
\u201cI learnt a great deal from people, and it was really helpful for me to live in an environment that had a very different cultural background. I grew up a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although offered a scholarship to study psychology, by 1973 Ms Tudor was instead working at a boys\u2019 school in Altona.<\/p>\n
Fifty-six different nationalities made up the community, which she said enriched her life.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really enjoyed that, but psychology never went away in my mind,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d been working as a student counsellor before I became deputy principal, and that\u2019s where my natural inclination was.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Tudor shifted her career to clinical psychology, and at that time, her mother was showing signs of dementia.<\/p>\n
Moving to Ballarat to support her \u201cwonderful\u201d parents, she wanted to learn as much about the disease as possible.<\/p>\n
But by 2010, Ms Tudor\u2019s partner Edie Mayhew received her own early-onset dementia diagnosis at age 59, and showed signs by 2015.<\/p>\n
\u201cI loved the work that I was doing, but I loved Edie more, so I retired in 2016,\u201d Ms Tudor said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDementia advocacy work was a way for us to have enjoyable experiences, meeting people and travelling, while dealing with a difficult situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
The couple co-founded Bigger Hearts Dementia Friendly Ballarat, and its alliance; a call to arms for people to grow their hearts in support of anyone experiencing discrimination.<\/p>\n
In 2021, Woowookarung Regional Park\u2019s award-winning Dementia Friendly Forest and Sensory Trail opened; a project the pair sparked before Ms Mayhew died in 2020.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was numb for 12 months, but I was able to go on, because this has been the most satisfying and rewarding thing I\u2019ve done, working with other likeminded people on something that has a positive effect on the general community,\u201d Ms Tudor said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo matter how small an act is, if it\u2019s done for the right reasons, genuinely and authentically for others, then you get so much satisfaction.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a wonderful feeling to be involved in something that meets a need for others; people with dementia, carers, children and adults with disabilities, and the general population.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwenty-seven thousand people have visited the park, and it\u2019s my joy to come here too.\u201d<\/p>\n
A member of the LGBTIQA+ community, Ms Tudor said she\u2019s always been hyper-aware of discrimination of minorities and cultural groups.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy interest has always been in responding positively to adversity as a way of feeling less helpless, knowing it can make a difference,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been able to do that both as a carer, and partner, of someone with dementia. It\u2019s the small acts of kindness that make a real difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2021, Ms Tudor was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia and named Victorian Senior of the Year.<\/p>\n
This month, her name\u2019s been added to the Zonta Club of Ballarat\u2019s Great Women honour roll.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ANNE Tudor was still a teenager when her 24-year-old brother was killed in a car accident. Life already \u201cfelt serious,\u201d and subsequently her caring, social justice-centred attitude emerged. Moving from Gordon to Rabaul in Papua New Guinea for three years, she worked as a teacher. \u201cI\u2019d had this idealistic idea, which was truly false, that […]<\/p>\n