Guest Speaker - Anne McLeish OAM
Anne McLeish and Helen Brown founded Grandparents Victoria in 2001 in Kensington, Victoria. The had both just become grandmothers and were working full-time and they thought that there was a need for an association that promoted the role of grandparents in the 21st century and took action to support grandchildren across the community. Grandparents Victoria believes that grandparents have a responsibility to be active in support of the needs of grandchildren.
They employ a range of strategies according to the needs and interests of the members. They attempt to inform the wider community of its views and to further educate themselves about issues in which they are interested. Much of what they do is based on the assumption that the members can go on learning and become well-informed articulate advocates for families.
The suite of strategies includes:
► The conduct of seminars
► Writing letters
► Connecting grandparents across the State
► Researching issues on request of members
► Producing newsletters and occasional papers
► Speaking to community groups
► Meeting with other organisations
►Writing submissions
There are four categories of grandparents in existence:
- Conventional grandparents who live independently and who have their grandchildren come to visit
- Those grandparents denied access to their grandchildren due to a breakdown in personal relationahips
- Grandparents who provide unpaid childcare this saving the community an estimated $9 Billion annually
- Grandparents who actually raise their grandchildren