By Callum Ludwig
A new social group is starting up in Woori Yallock for Mums of young kids.
Women’s Health East and the Woori Community House will team up to provide Mum’s Social Group in Term 3, open to all local mums of babies, toddlers and kinder-aged kids.
Health Promotion Coordinator at Women’s Health East Vanessa Czerniawski said they wanted to provide an opportunity for mums to come together in a social setting, with an early-years educator there to supervise the children.
“We did a bit of research a couple of years ago around women’s mental health, particularly women that had had babies or young children during Covid, and there was a real need for the social connection they missed out on,” she said.
“After discussion with the Woori Community House and the Yarra Ranges Council, we felt the Woori Yallock region was an area where women were a bit more disconnected.”
A survey has been opened up for potential members of the group to provide input as to what they’d like to see provided: www.surveymonkey.com/r/Y72WWMSor.
Ms Czerniawski said they want the mums involved to help co-design the program.
“It’s important for us to hear what they want and what’s going to be useful for them so that we can design something that’s really going to have an impact or that they want to attend, they can tell us days, times or if they need further support like transport arrangements,” she said.
“We’re also looking to have workshops, which could be on health and well-being issues, or childhood issues, or some fun, like arts and crafts or yoga or meditation, as well as the informal opportunity to chat and get to know each other.”
The Woori Community House is located at 1385 Healesville – Koo Wee Rup Road.
Ms Czerniawski said respite time is incredibly important for mums with young children.
“Certainly from the research we’ve done around mental health in general, but especially for women that have young children, being able to have that time to connect with other adults is really important,” she said.
“I have an almost six-year-old myself, and I know how getting together with other people, getting out of the house and sharing conversation with people in your local community that have kids of similar ages and similar experiences is really important.”
