In short:
Jackie Elliott founded the the non-profit event Rural Women's Day to find help the female connection she felt was missing in her life.
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she → found → life
Fifty Rural Women's Day events have since been held across Australia since its foundation in 2019.
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events → hold → 2019
Ms Elliott says the event is fostering connection in country towns and helping women "a new best friend".
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event → say → towns
When Jackie Elliott moved to an unfamiliar farming community in Western Victoria at 18, she assumed she would have to wait until she had children to make friends with other women.
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she → move → women
"When you're in a male-dominated industry, where most of my colleagues were the same age as my dad, there wasn't exactly an opportunity to connect socially with other women my age," Ms Elliott said.
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Elliott → dominate → women
"I always felt that maybe when I have a baby, that might be the opportunity, because you connect then on a social level, because people are in the same season as you."
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people → feel → you
After nine years of struggling to find women her own age in the town of Byaduk, she decided to do something about it.
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she → struggle → it
She founded Rural Women's Day, a non-profit organisation that holds social events for women working in agriculture and living in isolated areas.
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that → found → areas
Despite the name, Rural Women's Day is not held on a set date.
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Day → hold → date
Events are held throughout the year, in different regions.
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Events → hold → regions
Ms Elliott quickly found she was not alone.
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she → find → ?
It has since grown to 50 events across mainland Australia, connecting more than 5,000 women in rural areas.
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It → grow → areas
"I realised that there was obviously a need for something like this," Ms Elliott said.
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Elliott → realise → this
"You may be geographically isolated, but you (can) still feel connected through Rural Women's Day."
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you → isolate → Day
Ms Elliott said that before hosting the event, she thought she could only meet a very small number of people through local community groups, which were usually town-based.
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which → say → groups
"I wanted to probably look a bit further outside our own backyard," she said.
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she → want → backyard
"When women are able to engage and attend an event, it becomes something on their calendar that they want to try and get to regardless of how far they have to travel.
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they → engage → far
When Rural Women's Day visits a region, Ms Elliott tracks down local women to give talks and hosts a dinner where for people to chat and meet informally.
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people → visit → dinner
The event returns to each region every couple of years.
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event → return → years
"Now, when I go to an event, someone will say to me, 'This is my third event I'm attending and this is my best friend.
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this → go → me
We sat next to each other at the first event, didn't know each other beforehand, found out we only lived not far down the road from each other and now we do everything together,'" she said.
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she → sit → everything
"People are finding their best friend at Rural Women's Day."
Mental health benefits
Ms Elliott said sometimes the best thing women could do for their mental health was chat with like-minded people.
"Men and women need different means and ways of feeling less isolated," she said.
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she → find → means
"It was just nice to hear someone that sounded the same as me, and they're struggling with some of the same things or they've found a solution that helps, and maybe I'll try that too."
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I → hear → that
When Ms Elliott had her first child last year, she said she no longer felt pressure to use motherhood as a way to meet people.
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she → have → people
The attendees of one of her events even surprised her with a baby shower.
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attendees → surprise → shower
"Rural Women's Day provided me a purpose, and being a mum is a new purpose," she said.
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she → provide → purpose
"I'm really fortunate that I've been able to find a way to have them at the same time.
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I → find → time
"
Rural Women's Day events have been held in Rockhampton, Narromine, Young, Nagambie, Moama and Dunkeld this year.
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events → hold → Rockhampton
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