sleeping in king george square
Thursday night last week (11th) was the coldest night of the year; it registered because it was the night of the sleep out in King George Square, for homelessness week. And it was to draw attention to the plight of homeless women – and the dangers they face sleeping out on the street.
At 5.00 pm I took my blanket and pillow and headed off – and I couldn’t help but think of what it must be like to face such a situation every night; I was doing it for a protest, but there were so many women – and some so young and some so old – who face this every night. It has to be traumatising.
It was organised by the Big Issue. I have such admiration for the organization and for Anita Roddick, I might say, who turned more than one good idea into a commercial business. (She started The Body Shop in Brighton – and she is so motivated to ‘make a difference’; The Big Issue was also her idea – and it is supported by The Body Shop).
Some of us from the Second Chance Program had been talking to the Big Issue staff about the few women selling the magazine on the streets. And they pointed out something we should have realised; that homeless women selling a magazine on street corners can get harassed, molested, propositioned etc. Just like they do when they are trying to find a place to sleep at night. So – the sleep-out was arranged to draw attention to homeless women.
Some amazing tales were told. All harrowing. ‘Katt’ spoke out for the first time – an awful history from which she was recovering. Channel 10 did a news item on this on Friday night (and had Second Chance Programme web page address across the screen) and The Courier Mail journalist Kathleen Noonan followed it up in Saturday’s Inside Mail with a sensitive and sobering article.
You can always wish more people would become more aware, and that more could be done for the homeless – particularly homeless women – but at least it is becoming much more of a topic on the public agenda – thought it can still stop a lot of conversations when you bring it up. ‘Homeless women?’ some people say – ‘Are there any? I didn’t know that!’ Which is a major reason for continuing to talk and talk and arrange events and raise money …. Which is what the Second Chance Program does.
For me it was a real contrast with Tuesday night (16th) when I gave a talk at the Australian Institute of Management about Women on Boards. I talked about my own experience from my early days as a teacher – and the President of the South Coast and Tablelands English History Teachers Association; it was a good introduction to running an organization, giving speeches, arranging events and dealing with bureaucrats.
Some of the lessons I learned then, still hold. As do many of the lessons learned in London in the 1970s and 1980s in the publishing industry; editorial boards are slightly different – but managing meetings, reporting to boards, understanding issues of accountability are much the same. (Though I don’t make a big thing about working for Robert Maxwell and Pergamon Press at this stage.)
Back in Australia, I gained a different kind of the experience on the Management Committee of the Australian Society of Authors. More about policy and providing advice to politicians – always a tricky business. And AIMIA – the Australian Internet and Multimedia Industry Association – I was President of the Brisbane branch for a while; I met a lot of ‘geeks’ (and business men) – who taught me an enormous amount. Worth more than a university degree! It was through that organization that I got appointed to the Queensland Government Communication and Information Advisory Board – advising the first IT Minister, Terry Mackenroth, on policy for the state. (I convened the working party on IT Skills and wrote a report – in 1999 I think – on how we could do better. Maybe that’s why I got appointed to the board of Enabling Queensland.)
Then too there was the Copyright Agency Limited (CAL). I was on the board for 9 years and was chair for two – two very exciting years, when there was a big shift from collecting photocopying records by hand – to keeping track of digital transactions online. I loved that.
There are many things you can say these days about women on boards. Twenty years ago, the arguments for more women were on the basis of justice and even affirmative action. These days it is much more about – it makes good sense. Good economic sense.
Women know things men don’t, and they often relate to certain products, to being a customer – or to straightforward management, particularly of people. In this day and age where one of the greatest challenges is to get people at the workforce to be innovative, to use their ingenuity and imagination, I would be more inclined to put my money on more women than men. There are all the old stories about motivating people by the stick or carrot; and -men (in general) are more likely to give orders and to use the stick – women, more often think in terms of the carrot. They think more about motives and reactions. Among other things. (Trade secrets.)
Of course I finished the talk with my experience on the board of the Second Chance Program Fundraising Group (inc). There’s quite a history there – a small group of concerned, private citizens, very determined to raise money for homeless women –‘ to make a difference’. One of the first big obstacles was to get charitable status -- and then to start raising awareness and raising money. It’s the biggest challenge – but one of the most rewarding in terms of the committee, the work, and the sense of promoting change. Going on the sleep out in that cold weather – and, with nearly 200 other women still being harassed by three men ---- one of whom asked us didn’t we have homes to go to – I realise that there is much more to do!
At 5.00 pm I took my blanket and pillow and headed off – and I couldn’t help but think of what it must be like to face such a situation every night; I was doing it for a protest, but there were so many women – and some so young and some so old – who face this every night. It has to be traumatising.
It was organised by the Big Issue. I have such admiration for the organization and for Anita Roddick, I might say, who turned more than one good idea into a commercial business. (She started The Body Shop in Brighton – and she is so motivated to ‘make a difference’; The Big Issue was also her idea – and it is supported by The Body Shop).
Some of us from the Second Chance Program had been talking to the Big Issue staff about the few women selling the magazine on the streets. And they pointed out something we should have realised; that homeless women selling a magazine on street corners can get harassed, molested, propositioned etc. Just like they do when they are trying to find a place to sleep at night. So – the sleep-out was arranged to draw attention to homeless women.
Some amazing tales were told. All harrowing. ‘Katt’ spoke out for the first time – an awful history from which she was recovering. Channel 10 did a news item on this on Friday night (and had Second Chance Programme web page address across the screen) and The Courier Mail journalist Kathleen Noonan followed it up in Saturday’s Inside Mail with a sensitive and sobering article.
You can always wish more people would become more aware, and that more could be done for the homeless – particularly homeless women – but at least it is becoming much more of a topic on the public agenda – thought it can still stop a lot of conversations when you bring it up. ‘Homeless women?’ some people say – ‘Are there any? I didn’t know that!’ Which is a major reason for continuing to talk and talk and arrange events and raise money …. Which is what the Second Chance Program does.
For me it was a real contrast with Tuesday night (16th) when I gave a talk at the Australian Institute of Management about Women on Boards. I talked about my own experience from my early days as a teacher – and the President of the South Coast and Tablelands English History Teachers Association; it was a good introduction to running an organization, giving speeches, arranging events and dealing with bureaucrats.
Some of the lessons I learned then, still hold. As do many of the lessons learned in London in the 1970s and 1980s in the publishing industry; editorial boards are slightly different – but managing meetings, reporting to boards, understanding issues of accountability are much the same. (Though I don’t make a big thing about working for Robert Maxwell and Pergamon Press at this stage.)
Back in Australia, I gained a different kind of the experience on the Management Committee of the Australian Society of Authors. More about policy and providing advice to politicians – always a tricky business. And AIMIA – the Australian Internet and Multimedia Industry Association – I was President of the Brisbane branch for a while; I met a lot of ‘geeks’ (and business men) – who taught me an enormous amount. Worth more than a university degree! It was through that organization that I got appointed to the Queensland Government Communication and Information Advisory Board – advising the first IT Minister, Terry Mackenroth, on policy for the state. (I convened the working party on IT Skills and wrote a report – in 1999 I think – on how we could do better. Maybe that’s why I got appointed to the board of Enabling Queensland.)
Then too there was the Copyright Agency Limited (CAL). I was on the board for 9 years and was chair for two – two very exciting years, when there was a big shift from collecting photocopying records by hand – to keeping track of digital transactions online. I loved that.
There are many things you can say these days about women on boards. Twenty years ago, the arguments for more women were on the basis of justice and even affirmative action. These days it is much more about – it makes good sense. Good economic sense.
Women know things men don’t, and they often relate to certain products, to being a customer – or to straightforward management, particularly of people. In this day and age where one of the greatest challenges is to get people at the workforce to be innovative, to use their ingenuity and imagination, I would be more inclined to put my money on more women than men. There are all the old stories about motivating people by the stick or carrot; and -men (in general) are more likely to give orders and to use the stick – women, more often think in terms of the carrot. They think more about motives and reactions. Among other things. (Trade secrets.)
Of course I finished the talk with my experience on the board of the Second Chance Program Fundraising Group (inc). There’s quite a history there – a small group of concerned, private citizens, very determined to raise money for homeless women –‘ to make a difference’. One of the first big obstacles was to get charitable status -- and then to start raising awareness and raising money. It’s the biggest challenge – but one of the most rewarding in terms of the committee, the work, and the sense of promoting change. Going on the sleep out in that cold weather – and, with nearly 200 other women still being harassed by three men ---- one of whom asked us didn’t we have homes to go to – I realise that there is much more to do!
posted by dale spender at 11:29 AM
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