Eldercare Chief Executive Jane Pickering said this year’s international theme ‘Balance for Better’ and the Australian theme ‘More Powerful Together’ was aimed at encouraging everyone to play their part in forging a gender-balanced world.

“Both themes focus on the need for more men to get involved in the fight for gender equity and the importance of encouraging men to join the conversation about feminism,” said Jane.

“It takes all of us working in collaboration to break down stereotypes and gendered roles to create a world where women and girls everywhere have equal rights and opportunities.

“Eldercare encourages and celebrates diversity and we are proud to have a significant proportion of women in leadership roles across the organisation.”

Eldercare resident Melva Philp, 92, was one of three Acacia Court residents invited to share their life stories with their peers at the Hendon residential care facility.

“There’s a poem which said ‘the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world’ – meaning society is shaped by the mothers that teach their children,” said Melva.

“My mother was certainly a role model for me – she was a determined woman who brought up six children on her own; and I think she succeeded in raising us to be upstanding citizens.

“One big change I’ve noticed throughout my life is that women now have the ability and the choice to have a small family which has emancipated them from a life of ‘home duties’ – and they have more options than ever before.”

Residents at Mount Barker residential care facility Sash Ferguson celebrated the ‘Balance for Better’ theme by holding an International Women’s Day yoga session and Head Office staff tested their balance by building houses of cards and playing the wooden block game ‘Jenga’.

International Women’s Day is celebrated annually on 8 March.

Image: Eldercare Acacia Court Lifestyle Coordinator Jayda Makvimarniol with Acacia Court residents Elsie Thompson, Melva Philp and Janet Curran.