Story By: Patti McNaught

On 8 March, St Mary MacKillop Parish Highfields hosted a High Tea to celebrate International Women’s Day. This was the brainchild of our Parish Pastoral Council Chair, Nikki Tonkin, who took it upon herself to organise this function, which was a first for the Highfields Community.

Realising this was a huge task and a risk-taking venture, she decided that it would be worth it, and it certainly was. The aim was not only to honour women in the community but to be a fundraiser for our St Vincent de Paul Conference in Highfields to support women in need and to support our local parish. With the help of PPC member Rebekah Bowdler and parishioner Megan Ford, things were soon underway.

We were given a glass of bubbly on arrival and were shown to our tables. The tables were resplendent in the International Women’s Day colours, beautiful flowers and little trinkets relating to the occasion. Fr Brian Noonan came to give us a special blessing.

The two inspirational guest speakers Agnes Derrick, a litigation lawyer and Cas Watene, cake decorator extraordinaire, told us of their very interesting lives, and stressed the fact that woman can do anything if they try. It was an honour to celebrate their stories. These two women both have families as well as their chosen profession. A Q&A followed.

This year, we celebrated the contribution of two of our female parishioners, Colleen Weber and Beth McCormick, thanking them for the many years of living our mission and vision statement, giving to others, and being inspirational to those around them.

The catered high tea was more than we had expected and was enjoyed by all. It was a wonderful atmosphere to hear everyone chatting away to each other at their respective tables.

We raised $500 to donate to St Vincent de Paul, which was presented to the secretary of SVDP at Sunday Mass.

This function will be held again next year, and we hope to make it a bigger and better occasion.