Caroline Heard
Caroline was born in Plymouth, Devon and at the age of 21 moved to London. The weather in February was cold and gloomy, so she decided to move somewhere warmer.
Australia beckoned. Her secretarial skills were on the “wanted” list, and for $20 she found herself on a 5 week cruise. She arrived in Sydney, married and had a son.
Unfortunately her husband, a Vietnam Veteran, contracted cancer and passed away, so, after 22 years in Sydney she moved again. This time to Hobart.
She was Secretary and President of the local community association, picking up invaluable organizational skills along the way.
She found herself outside the Hobart Shule one day and was drawn inside, and that was how she rediscovered her Judaism. A short while later she became President of the Hobart Hebrew Congregation.
By early 2006 she was growing restless and decided to move to Melbourne and be part of the Jewish Community there. Her son was already living in Melbourne.
Shortly before moving to Melbourne she met Sylvia Gelman AM MBE z”l. Sylvia became both a friend and mentor to Caroline.
Debbie Brown asked Caroline to attend a WIZO Masada meeting, which she did in November 2011. A few months later ill health struck, so she didn’t do anything “WIZO” until October the following year.
In November 2012 Sylvia Green approached Caroline to take on the Presidency of WIZO Masada. Caroline is very proud of this position and the role it plays in WIZO Victoria. They have the highest membership and is currently one of the highest fundraising groups in Victoria, often winning either the Child of the Year competition or the Quest which does a lot to boost the morale of members.
In 2019 Caroline joined the WIZO State Executive of Victoria.
The following year she took on the position of Wills and Bequests portfolio, which she shares with Ruth Scheuer OAM.
During 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, Caroline organised many zoom tours of Israel and other very interesting zooms for the membership and this also drew people in from many other areas of not only WIZO in Australia, but also an international audience. This also assisted in fundraising at a very difficult time.
Caroline has visited Israel twice, but it was the 2020 EGM that truly inspired her.