It's ladies only in Middlemarch next week.
A drought support event for rural women will be held on April 28 in the Strath Taieri Community Centre.
The evening, which features guest speaker Julie Woods, has been sponsored by the Otago Rural Support Trust, Farmlands, the Ministry for Primary Industries, and Rural Women New Zealand.
RWNZ was very aware of the stresses encountered when there was an adverse event such as a drought and very often it was the women who bore the brunt of that, RWNZ national councillor lower South Island Margaret Pittaway said.
Organisers hoped the evening would allow women to ''get out and socialise, have a laugh, a glass of wine and just relax and, for a short time, forget about everything that's happening around them.''
The evening catered for any women whose livelihood was derived from the rural sector, including, for example, contractors' partners.
Parts of South Canterbury, North Otago and the Strath Taieri were ''still pretty vulnerable'', Mrs Pittaway said.
