Bearing biscuits, cups of tea and pointy needles a group of women gather for a weekly chat about knitting, their grandchildren, life and death in an old Church hall. The 24 women sit around a linoleum table  the majority are widowed, and not one of them is below 80. The room is full of chatter, you can hear it as soon as you enter. These women have been friends for decades, choosing to spend every Friday in each otherâs company since the 1980âs. Although the group was started by church members, it no longer is a church group. Most of its members no longer even follow a religion. The women have stayed for the company and conversations, most of them sharing a long history, and a sense of companionship.Â
Member Moira Matthews joined the knitting group in her 50âs. She is now approaching her 90 th birthday. âWe talk about the projects we are starting, our familyâs and sometimes church activities. We talk about current affairs, but we definitely donât talk about religion and politics,â Moira explains.Â
Not for profit, the group has been creating blankets for âWrap with Loveâ, a charity organisation that collects knitted blankets and sends them to people in need of warmth. The blankets are transported internationally, and reach places in India, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines. In the past, they have also raised money for sewing machines and solar panels to be provided to a village in Zambia. To raise these funds, every meeting $3 is put into a basket by each member.Â
Some of this money goes to paying for the tea and biscuits, and the rest is given to funding these projects. âIn the beginning, there was a lady who was skilled in craft, and she would teach the other ladies and I how to do different things and do different hand works,â Moira recalls. âWe would do needlework, beading, knitting, cross stitch and other crafty things. Every year we would sell them at the fate and the money would go to the Uniting Churchâ.Â
The group hasnât been without itâs challenges, however. Being kicked out of multiple venues, the group has remained strong and searched for new places to hold their meetings. Currently residing in St Aidanâs church, the group members were pleased to move to this venue as it had a kitchen and they could threw parties at Christmas and Easter.Â
âWe had a neighbourhood house in Bulleen Road and that was taken over by the church by some other probably worthy group. Then we went over to the Trinity Churchâs neighbourhood community house, in Doncaster Road, and now we are at St Aidanâs. So we have had 3 venues over the years. They used to have other activities in our group. For awhile, every month we would cook a Sunday lunch for people who lived on their own at home. And some of the women in the group used to drive each other to doctorâs appointments, and other health appointments,â Moira declares.Â
Furthermore, the transportation from home to the venue has become to much of a challenge for some members. Whether they can no longer drive, or they have moved into an aged care facility, Moira describes that it is just something everyone has grown accustom to. âThatâs just how it is. Kath and a few other membersâ had their husbands drive them to the meetings. But their husbandâs have stopped being able to drive them to needlework or they have gone into care, and so the numbers have dropped a little bit. Some of the ladies carpool, and come together. We try to make it work. Occasionally we will get a new member too,â Moira says.Â
According to a report done by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 'Reflecting a Nation: Stories from the 2011 Censusâ, (2012â2013), women are less likely than men to be living with a spouse or partner, and are more likely to be living independently, living with a family member, or in assisted care. With people 85 years and over, 46% of men compared to 11% of women were living with a spouse or partner. According to the ABS, this is largely due to women being more likely than men to outlive their spouses, which reflects both womenâs higher life expectancy and the fact that wives are on average younger than their husbands. For both men and women the amount of Page 2 of 3 people living alone increased with age. Of older people who lived alone, 69% of women and 38% of men who lived alone were widowed.Â
Similarly, in social researcher Dr Janet Hiller and Ruth Walkerâs publication 'Places and health: A qualitative study to explore how older women living alone perceive the social and physical dimensions of their neighbourhoodsâ it has been found that womenâs sense of safety and their general wellÂbeing has an undeniable link to community groups such as the Needlework group. The publication discovered, through collecting hundreds of stories from elderly women, that âa reciprocal and trusting relationship with neighbours underpinned older womenâs sense of satisfaction with, and feeling of security within, the neighbourhood. Other factors such as living in close proximity to services and existing social networks were also seen as important. Womenâs stories demonstrated that they were able to draw on both existing social networks and neighbours to sustain their independence and social connection within the community.âÂ
It is obvious from the elated conversations and large turnout that these women find great support and comfort from the other members. Connecting through a sisterhood of sorts, the group isnât only there for a good knit. When a member has to leave the group, the other members work together to create a blanket as a going away gift and a keepsake. The warmth that these women give one another is not only from the blankets, but also in camaraderie and a sense of community. By offering friendship they give other members great comfort.
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