The op shop that creates opportunity

January 19, 2007

Community spirit runs strong in Glen Innes. Whether it's volunteering for the Rural Fire Service or marching in the street parade at the annual Celtic Festival, Glen Innes residents have always been willing to lend a hand for a good cause.

It's that same community spirit that motivates Shirley Edwards and other volunteers at the Glen Innes Opportunity Shop to provide a scholarship worth $5,000 a year for a local student to gain a degree at the University of New England. The money goes towards textbooks, stationery, and living expenses. The scholarship is particularly aimed at nursing students, in the hope of addressing the town's chronic shortage of trained nurses.

"Most of the nurses at our local hospital are at an age when they would probably rather be retired," Shirley said. "We thought if we could sponsor a nurse and get her through the course, then she might come back to work in Glen Innes."

With the current scholarship holder it looks as though Shirley might get her wish. Sarah Bryson, who comes from Glen Innes, began her nursing studies at UNE - with the help of the Glen Innes Opportunity Scholarship - last year. She said she intended to do her postgraduate year at Glen Innes Hospital and hoped to work there when she finished her studies. She said the scholarship made a big difference to her life, by allowing her to focus on her nursing degree course instead of worrying about money.

"I'm a single mum, so it's difficult for me to work on top of studying full-time," Sarah said. "This scholarship means I don't have to. It's helped with textbooks as well as general costs."

Sarah said she felt lucky to have received the scholarship. "I know for a lot of others it's really difficult," she said. "Nursing textbooks are expensive."

The Glen Innes Opportunity Shop started during World War II, when a group of local women got together to sell tea and scones to buy wool, which they knitted into socks and balaclavas for Australian soldiers. After the war, the women didn't want to disband, so they opened a shop selling second-hand clothes and bric-a-brac, with all proceeds going to the local community. Last year they raised more than $60,000 for a variety of causes, including the UNE scholarship.

About 40 women volunteer at the shop, which is located at 179 Lang Street. "We do two shifts a day, and we've always got three or four people on at a time, so no one has to work too hard," Shirley said.

She said she was glad the scholarship was helping Sarah to achieve her academic goals. "When you live out in an area where there are not a lot of study facilities it's very hard on young people. It means they either have to live away from home or give up the thought of it - and living away from home can be very expensive. That's our motivation for offering this scholarship."

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here shows Mrs Shirley Edwards (right) with the scholarship holder Sarah Bryson. It expands to include (at left) Mrs Joy Geddes, also from the Glen Innes Opportunity Shop. It was taken at last year's undergraduate scholarship presentation ceremony at UNE.

Posted by Leon Braun at January 19, 2007 12:26 PM