what's new
NEW - Melbourne workshops at Queen Victoria Women's Centre
This message was sent to Prisms by the QVWCNEW* Kate West is writing a book about single motherhood in Australia - and needs your help! I am inviting single mothers to be interviewed anonymously for the book. The project's goal is to share stories of single motherhood for the benefit of all women going through separation and divorce, as well as ones who have taken the path to single motherhood through a range of other events. I want every single mother to have support from the moment she enters the realm of single parenthood. There are some useful resources out there, but currently there is no book that a mother can read in the early days to help her feel less alone, more empowered and more optimistic about her future. The book won't be all roses, though. The good, and tough times will be explored through a range of honest accounts about women's real life experiences. I hope you will consider sharing your story.
Goodafternoon,
Just a friendly reminder that time is running out for you to register for
the Steps to Securing Your Financial Futureworkshops and seminars.
Queen Victoria Women’s Centre, in partnership with WIRE - Women’s
Information and the Victorian Government is running a series of practical
workshops and informative seminars for women called Steps to Securing Your
Financial Future, which will be delivered across Victoria, as part of the
first ever Women & Money Month.
Steps to Securing Your Financial Future: Practical workshops for women
The workshops will be run in 9 locations in Melbourne and regional
Victoria. Each workshop comprises four x two hour sessions spread over
four weeks.
The locations for the workshops are:
Altona Meadows
Geelong
Ararat
Mildura
Thornbury
Euroa
Box Hill
Mordialloc
Sale.
The workshops will provide an opportunity for you to explore and review
your approach to money, and your spending and saving habits.
The workshops will also assist you to start thinking about and planning for
your financial future. The workshops will commence in the last week of
August.
Steps to Securing Your Financial Future: Informative seminars for women
In addition 12 seminars, covering 6 topics about managing your money will
be run at the Queen Victoria Women’s Centre in Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
in September and October:
Living well: budgeting to achieve your financial independence
Seminar 1: Tuesday 6:00-7:00 PM 2 September
Seminar 2: Saturday 10:00-11:00 AM 6 September
Taming your money: young women managing credit and debt
Seminar 3: Tuesday 6:00-7:00 PM 9 September
Seminar 4: Saturday 11:30 AM-12:30 PM 6 September
My money?: moving from single to partnered life
Seminar 5: Tuesday 6:00-7:00 PM 16 September
Seminar 6: Saturday 2:00-3:00 PM 6 September
Mothers and daughters: talking with your daughters about money
Seminar 7: Tuesday 6:00-7:00 PM 23 September
Seminar 8: Saturday 10:00 to 11:00am 20 September
Super fit – Superannuation and retirement
Seminar 9: Tuesday 6:00-7:00 PM 30 September
Seminar 10: Saturday 11:30 AM-12:30 PM 20 September
On the property ladder – Tips for buying your home
Seminar 11: Tuesday 6:00-7:00 PM 7 October
Seminar 12: Saturday 2:00-3:00 PM 20 September
Please find attached a copy of the brochure which includes a registration
form for both the seminar and workshop program.
Please complete the registration form electronically and email it to:
women.money@qvwc.org.au (not via return email).
(See attached file: WFLP_Facilitators preferred delivery addresses for
participant manuals.pdf)
Please help us promote this fantastic program by forwarding this email to
your networks. For further information please go to the Queen Victoria
Women’s Centre website via link below:
http://www.qvwc.org.au/news_and_events/events/steps_to_securing_your_financial_future_workshops_for_women
Thank you for interest in this important initiative.
The Office of Women's Policy
If you are interesting in being part of this exciting project, please contact me at kate@prisms.com.au. I look forward to hearing from you.
NEW* Single mums invited to participate in Westfield's 'We Are Family' events in June, July & August!
Between June 16 and August 10, We Are Family will host approximately 160 free, interactive events on a diverse range of topics at 32 Westfield centres across the nation for mums to learn, share and meet other mums in the community. To help mums navigate their busy lives, over 1.3 million free Westfield We Are Family local guides will be available with helpful hints from other mums, expert advice and quick access to community information.
For more details, enquire at your local Westfield centre or check out the new We Are Family website at westfield.com.au/wearefamily on June 16 to be part of the family.
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New in January 2008 - prisms is now officially recognised by the Child Support Agency as a valuable resource for newly separated and single mothers. To see the prisms link on the CSA website click here.
New in November 2007 - we invite you to visit the website of one of the women featured in our case studies section. Stacey's site - www.empoweringyoungmums.com.au is a fantastic new website created to help inspire and encourage young mothers to achieve their goals. We congratulate and applaud Stacey for her efforts.
If you would like to read Stacey's story or hear from other inspiring women, visit case studies on the prisms website. November 2007 - If you are a single mum in Canberra who would like to participate in a PhD thesis interview, visit our latest research section for more information.
New in January/February 2007...
Watch this space as we bring you some important and comprehensive new features in 2007. We'll be adding new sections on Stepfamilies and Grandparenting after separation and divorce, as well as bringing you more news, reviews, research, networking opportunities and much much more...
New in December
New this month are three new book reviews as well as our new prisms report on Returning to Work as a Single Mother. Read on for advice about how to manage Christmas gift-giving and spending time with your children if you are a single parent.
New in November
prisms meetings are starting in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth in the week beginning 20 November. If you are interested in coming along to one of our meetings, please email us at meetings@prisms.com.au. We hope to see you there!
• Calling all single mums to participate in a research study about solo mums' wellbeing! NOW CLOSED
Kathryn Russell is a community psychology doctoral student at Edith Cowan University in Western Australia. Her research area is the wellbeing of solo mums and the relationships of wellbeing with work, welfare reforms and social justice. This area of research is important as there has been a lack of research into these relationships and what they may imply for families headed by solo mums. Kathryn is particularly focused on the social justice aspects of the welfare to work reforms and how the decision processes affect the wellbeing of solo mums as well as the actual outcomes of the reforms. If you would like any further information please do not hesitate to contact Kathryn at k.russell@ecu.edu.au. The research involves filling in a short survey that will take approximately 10 minutes with a further opportunity for participation in a confidential interview. If you can help, please call Kathryn on
0419 807 142
or email k.russell@ecu.edu.au
to receive the survey form. Please note that this research has been
approved by the ECU Human Research Ethics Committee. If you decide to
participate in the study, we would appreciate your mentioning that you
heard about the study through the prisms webiste. • We are thrilled to announce that this month highly-respected psychologist and mediator Jill Burrett joins our team of experts. We were lucky enough to have the opportunity to talk to Jill and review her latest book Shared Parenting - Raising Your Children Cooperatively After Separation (co-authored with Michael Green). It's a must read for all newly separated parents looking for a practical guide to shared parenting - what it is, whether it can work for your family and how to write a shared parenting plan. If you would like to read our interview, visit our reviews section in our resource centre. For more information about mediation, go to our experts section.
• We are delighted to present the second of our special features 'interview series' this week. Each month we talk to a single mother about how she has adjusted to life a a single parent, what changes it made in her life and what advice she would give other single mums who want to move on from their separation with determination and optimism. This month, we interview inspirational businesswoman and single mother Jo Woods, whose gym Urban Workout is giving Melbourne's inner city dwellers all the inspiration and support they need to get the most out of life.
• We are always looking for new information to add to our resource centre. We encourage all separating mothers (and fathers) to read the following booklets (both around 40 pages), recently published by Relationships Australia and available on their website (www.relationships.com.au) For an excellent starting point if you are newly separated, read Women and Separation: Managing New Horizons, or Men and Separation: Choices in Tough Times. Just go to the 'Recent Publications' section on the Relationships Australia website and follow the links. Both booklets are full of practical information and we highly recommend them both.
• Is your child having difficulty adjusting to your separation?
Swinburne University is offering free child therapy for kids aged 6-10 as part of a study.
A team of psychologists at Swinburne University are investigating the effectiveness of a therapy commonly used for children who are showing distress following a conflictual parental separation. Theyare specifically comparing this treatment to the effectiveness of reading a popular and informative self-help handbook for parents who have separated. Separated parents and their children aged 6-10 are invited to participate. Children must be showing signs of distress and be having trouble coping since the separation. Therapy will run in Hawthorn (Melbourne), so you will need to live within travelling distance. While children attend their therapy sessions, parents will attend group meetings with other parents who have recently separated. If you are eligible to participate you will either receive the free hand-book (which is highly recommended by psychologists) or you will receive the free therapy with trained psychologists. Therapy starts soon so please call or email and register your interest straight away! Email: FCook@swin.edu.au or phone
(03) 9214 4762
for further information.