Six years of lobbying has paid off for a group of women who have been fighting for a safe space in a remote mining town in the Northern Goldfields of Western Australia.
The Nyunnga-Ku Women’s Group in Leonora has opened a hub in the centre of town where they're providing help to women tackling a range of personal and social issues.
Founder of the group Colleen Berry grew up in Leonora and started the group for women of all ages and race to come together and belong.
"When I grew up, we didn't have this, we had nothing like this, but then we didn't have the issues that we have now,” she said.
"I'm so proud, six years on, just every time I'm like, 'Wow I can't believe it.'”
Due to growing COVID numbers in the regions, the group celebrated its official opening with a small but successful morning tea, attracting a number of women and girls in town.
Geraldine Hogarth, a member of the group said the new hub was the best place for the women to help one another.
She said there were many issues women had to face, including overcrowding, alcohol and drug issues, COVID, racism and discrimination.
Leonora, located about 237km north of Kalgoorlie is home to about 750 people, according to the Australia Bureau of Statistics.
There’s a mix of people from all backgrounds, including a large percentage of Indigenous people.
Willamena Beamen says local girls in the area are a big concern.
“A lot of our girls are disengaged. They’ve been disengaged for quite some time,” she said.
“Being young, they’ve still got a long way to grow, they don’t have to give up on life,.They can make a change.”
Ms Beamen hopes the new hub will help reverse troubled behaviours of the youth in town.
Last year, the group installed a $20,000 sanitary vending machine to help end period poverty prevalent among young girls in the region.
Ms Beamen, who also works at the local school, says it’s a great initiative for girls to use out of school hours.
“It means a lot for our girls. They get ashamed. If they needed sanitary stuff, they won’t speak out.”
The group hopes the new, welcoming space will help women connect and communicate at ease with one another.
The space encompasses a warm aura and has sewing machines, kitchen, laundry, beauty parlour, hair wash system, vending machine, resting bed, and many other features to make the women feel at home.
Ms Berry hopes knowledge and culture is passed on for the betterment of the town and its people.
She said the hub wouldn’t have been possible without the help from several mining companies, the local shire, and other partners.
