by Mandy Stone
Manager, Port Douglas Neighbourhood Centre

International Women’s Day was celebrated around the world a few days ago, and locally a number women from Douglas were honoured by Cairns Regional Council for their contribution to our Shire.
 
Women from the Port Douglas Neighbourhood Centre were proud to receive awards from the Mayor Val Schier, our local Councillor Julia Leu and the Regional Manager for Douglas Liz Collier. These awards acknowledged our valuable contribution to Douglas.
 
Individual women from the Neighbourhood Centre who received the awards were Jennifer Sorensen our chairperson, Janet Richardson one of our volunteers, and myself Mandy Stone. 

Pink in the Tropics, the Breast Cancer Support Group that is auspiced by the Neighbourhood Centre, was not only honoured with an award but also had the privilege of having a meeting room at the Port Douglas Community Hall named after the group.
 
It was a delight to be in the company of the other local women who also received awards valuing their contribution to our Shire, and to also be there at the ceremony where six rooms of the Port Douglas Community Hall were named in their honour. It was also a privilege to be in the company of the many amazing local women who have all contributed to our community who joined in the celebrations.

On Friday the Port Douglas Neighbourhood Centre celebrated International Women’s Day , something we have done for over fifteen years.  Every year around one hundred women from the Douglas Shire gather together to celebrate women’s strength, courage and diversity and listen to local speakers who come to speak to us of their own remarkable life stories. 

Over the years we have had more than thirty speakers who have reminded us of the strength, versatility and abilities of ordinary women who have led interesting and amazing lives. We have learnt that inside every woman is a story that will inspire and entertain us.
 
This year the Port Douglas Neighbourhood Centre was proud to celebrating ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF WOMEN'S ACHIEVEMENTS.
 
At a lunch held at Salsa Bar and Grill, we had three strong, courageous, and diverse women from our community speak to the group including:

Melissa Collins, a young woman who is a group leader with the Mossman State Emergency Service and with the Emergency Services Cadets Program, a lieutenant for the Mossman Fire Brigade and who also works for the Cairns Regional Council in pest management and revegetation in her spare time;

Pamela Salt, a leader of the Kuku Yalanji people and a very talented and generous artist, partner, teacher and mother who talked about her life as an indigenous artist; and

Jo Dau, one of the very few female councillors from the  Douglas Shire Council and who is still working hard for her community with her role with the  Douglas Shire Aged Person Homes.

As well as our inspirational speakers we had some great entertainment from Louise Pidgeon.
 
International Women’s Day is one of the Port Douglas Neighbourhood Centre's annual fundraisers, and all the money that is raised from the raffles, donations and ticket sales go towards assisting both women and men in our community.
 
We wish to thank the local businesses that support us year after year by donating goods and services to assist us in our fundraising efforts.