Page 67 - AdNews Magazine Nov-Dec 2020

MEET our FINALISTS
The Australian Women’s Weekly Veeda Women of the Future Awards celebrate the bright, bold young women tackling big issues and change lives. From pioneering climate change solutions to supporting domestic violence survivors, this year’s
“My heart and my soul felt broken. I felt so
alone. It astounded me that after leaving
hospital without my daughter in my arms, the
medical and mental health systems didn’t have
much on offer to help with the ravages of
grief,” she says. She couldn’t find the right support outside the hospital, either.
Bronwyn
● As a journalist at the district court of WA, Bronwyn Bate found herself wanting to take a more active role in addressing the injustices she saw every day. She began working for non-profits where she discovered there was a need to create training and employment pathways for vulnerable women.
“I was speaking to so many CEOs of women’s shelters who were saying we don’t know what the next step is because regardless of how much frontline support we give women, once they leave they’re left to their own devices,” Bronwyn says.
On average, 52 per cent of men, women and children in crisis shelters come back within two months of leaving. In response to this, Bronwyn developed a social enterprise that would provide paid, transitional employment to women who have fled domestic and family violence. She spent a year researching how best to deliver training and support before launching Mettle Gifts in September
BATE
SMALL BUSINESS
30, Trigg, WA
Mettle Women – ethical gift service that provides employment pathways for domestic violence survivors
● As an obstetrician in training, Ashleigh Smith had attended classes on supporting bereaved parents, so when her own little girl died two days after she was born in January this year, she was shocked by how little support there was to help her through her profound grief and sadness.
Ashleigh
“There were free support group ‘meet-ups’ but the members changed each time and I found my husband and I constantly having to retell our sad story. I was experiencing the most profound agony and the existing support structures weren’t even touching the sides – grief from losing a child is such a deep, deep sorrow.”
She did a meditation course, and found journal articles that said meditation should be offered to people who are grieving. “I decided to put my medical and science knowledge toward sifting through all available evidence and literature that can help guide and support women through the grief of losing a baby,” she says.
The Glimmer Project is a podcast and a three-week online program that offers coping strategies, evidence- based daily meditations and peer connection with a small group of women who are going through the same thing.
“My personal experience as a patient was everyone at the hospital was very gentle and compassionate and really wanted to help. But when you go home and your partner
SMITH
31, Toowoomba, QLD
The Glimmer Project – bereavement support for mothers who have experienced stillbirth or newborn los
2019.
Mettle Gifts employs
women in a six-month paid program that includes an employment development plan tailored to each participants’ needs. The participants work an average of 15 hours a week and are paid above-award wages and superannuation.
“Some of them, all they want at this stage of their life is to put money in the bank, food on the table for their kids and themselves, save up a bond,” Bronwyn says. Others may be looking to return to TAFE. A gift delivery service was a good enterprise because of the range of skills needed, Bronwyn says. “There’s marketing and ecommerce as
DECEMBER 2020 | The Australian Women’s Weekly 37
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