Ways to pay tribute to Ballarat mums this Mother's Day

Ballarat General Cemeteries Trust is launching its 150 Women project with the stories of 150 women who have been leaders and makers of this city. This project stems from the Trust's 150^th anniversary in 2017.

The Arch of Victory/Avenue of Honour committee also continues to build its rare Mother's Day reflection service in the Garden of the Grieving Mother.

For those looking for a more active start to Mother's Day there is the annual Mother's Day Classic run and walk in Victoria Park to raise money for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

While this is in the Arch of Victory precinct, people are encouraged to leave a floral tribute to their mother at the Grieving Mother any time on Mother's Day.

The Arch of Victory/Avenue of Honour committee has been working to develop this rare tradition, with a short non-military reflective service.

Committee president Garry Snowden said Mother's Day, being about a fortnight after Anzac Day, was an ideal time to reflect on the experience of mothers and families at home when their children have been on or near battlefields in war.

"Ballarat has lost around 1000 men while they were serving our country in two world wars and other conflicts like Korea, Vietnam and Afghanistan," Mr Snowden said. "So, on Mother's Day we will remember the hundreds of Ballarat mothers and families impacted by these losses. I hope to see the statue base covered by flowers by the end of the day."

The service will feature guest speaker Annie DeJong, who is Ballarat General Cemeteries chief executive officer. Arch of Victory/Avenue of Honour committee member Carol Holding will read a poem.

There is still time to get your pink on and enter this nationwide fundraiser for Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Entries are still open online (where participants can download their event bib) and will open on the day from 8am at Victoria Park.

MORE: Ballarat pretty in pink for 2023 Mother's Day Classic

Official welcomes and warm-ups are from 8.40am.

The 5km and 10km runs start at 9am, followed by the 5km walk.

More details here.

Mother's Day can draw more than 2000 visitors to Ballarat New Cemetery.

This Mother's Day, Ballarat General Cemeteries Trust will launch its 150 Women project to share the stories of key women of the region. The Trust is also calling for people to help fill the gaps - and go well beyond 150 stories - with more influential and inspirational women at rest in Ballarat's new and old cemeteries.

Ballarat General Cemeteries chief executive officer Annie De Jong said the cemeteries had been the keep of individuals and events that have shaped this city since the mid-1800s - but there had been a notable gap in the stories being shared.

"There are many stories about the achievements or lives of prominent men, pioneers, or those associated with the gold rush or Eureka Rebellion in Ballarat, but the stories of the women standing beside them in society are very few," Ms De Jong said.

"Some graves of women and girls are left unmarked, and burial records often only hinted at their roles in society, as mothers, daughters, wives, widows or spinsters.

"There was little evidence of how they lived or any stories providing clearer insight into their contributions."

Well-known figures identified in the collection include: entrepreneurs Eleanor Lucas, Matilda Thompson and Mary Sutton; artists Helen Noonan, Gertrude Healy, Alma Matthews and Rosalie Bonighton; educators Mother Bonaventure and Mother Hilda; political activists and politicians such as Aileen Palmer, Mary Morrison, Jessie Scott and Karen Overington; and, health care reformers Alice Pittard and Helen Gardiner.

Former Ballarat General Cemeteries Trust chairperson and Judy Verlin, who is also a former City of Ballarat mayor, said women had represented Ballarat at every government tier and had led major organisations such as the universities and hospital.

Dr Verlin said the project was part of a duty to recognised women who came before.

"We often talked about the unsung hero as an opportunity to recognise women who often, according to the time, did not receive the recognition that they would otherwise deserve," Dr Verlin said.

"Many of these women were quiet achievers working under exceptional circumstances - rearing their families and keeping their children alive at a time when health conditions weren't conducive to rearing small children.

"Often they found themselves as widows very early on."

Dr Verlin said the project was not about discrediting men - there had been a lot of recognition of men's contributions in Ballarat, especially in early Ballarat days.

"What has stayed with me was the fact that they could bury women without any acknowledgement on the plaque," Dr Verlin said. "I can't believe there would be a time that someone could bury their mother or wife and not acknowledge her."