The Hidden Treasures Honour Roll is updated annually to pay tribute to rural women who play important volunteer roles in their local communities.
Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke has presented Wyalong local Mrs Janice Cattle with a certificate and flowers in recognition of her as one of our 2020 Hidden Treasures.
Together with Mr Colin and Mrs Monica Clark, who nominated Mrs Cattle for recognition, Ms Cooke congratulated and thanked Mrs Cattle for her enormous contribution to the West Wyalong community.
“Finding the strength to support others experiencing grief and loss makes Janice such a special member of her local community,” Ms Cooke said.
After tragically losing one of her sons, Mrs Cattle established the West Wyalong Community Rose Garden, designed to be a safe space for people to heal and find support in their darkest times through gardening, a cup of tea and having someone to talk to.
“Every Thursday for the past twenty years Janice has volunteered her time to help others with their grief, which is a remarkable service to the community and just one of the many ways she has given of her time to help others.”
Mrs Cattle is also a volunteer at the West Wyalong Garden Club, Lions Club and is currently writing a book about the people, life and times of West Wyalong and their relationship to the West Wyalong Community Rose Garden.
Mrs Cattle is one of 8 women from the Cootamundra electorate to be recognised as a 2020 Hidden Treasure, an initiative of the NSW Government Department of Primary Industries’ Rural Women’s Network, to recognise and promote the valuable role of rural women volunteers in NSW. It has captured the inspirational stores of more than 900 women since its inception in 2010.
