Faith and Hope through Music

Jayne Neilson from Central Victoria was brought out of her own deep darkness into a healing light. She now nurtures and inspires others through her gift with music and passion for creating community.

 After growing up in the rural region of Bendigo, Jayne spread her wings to the big city to study music at university. Her husband Jono grew up in Yarram so moving to Gippsland was a natural choice for the young couple, with both finding work in the area.  Jayne was delighted to secure employment at Gippsland Grammar as a music teacher.

Jayne entered the daunting world of parenthood with the arrival of their son and suffered with severe post-natal depression. Struggling to find a village to be part of in this new season of life, the family moved to Warragul to be closer to family support. Still she struggled to find her groove. “I probably had made a lot of excuses to not be social. Hormones and sleepless nights can do that to you. I was relieved when we decided to move closer to family in Warragul, but still found it hard to make friends.” Reflects Jayne.

After a year in their new home the bottom fell out of her world, tragically losing her father. He had long battled with depression and mental illness and tragically took his own life. “It completely shattered my world and knocked the wind out of my sails. Around this time, I found out I was pregnant with our second child. We were overjoyed to be having another child, but my pregnancy was overshadowed with grief.”

Thankfully by this time Jayne’s network of support was more established and she reflects on this harrowing time being a turning point in her life. With the arrival of their daughter her world started to look brighter. They named her Ashlyn which means dreams and gave her the middle name Hope.

This entire experience drew Jayne to contemplate how many other people were struggling to find friendship and support in the intense early parenting years. “I wondered, ‘who else is in need of a village?” Jaynes focus was shifted from her own hurt to helping others with theirs. Drawing on her extensive experience and love of music, she created Fiddlesticks Performing Arts.

A creative collaboration followed joining Stephanie Lambert, owner of The Makery. In their joint space in Napier Street, they bring together their artistic and musical talents to build a space which is nurtures creativity, sees people build relationships and encourage each other as individuals, parents and community members.

The space itself is testament to what has been created. “Every piece of furniture in my room at Fiddlesticks has a beautiful story of being given, donated or collected.” The village she so desperately needed as a new parent and grieving daughter has become a reality that she can share with others.

Jayne has taken the darkest time in her life and from it found beauty and healing through this business venture. “I wanted it to as much as possible to feel like people were coming into an inviting lounge room, where they can relax and children can play and we just do life together. Music is just the medium I use to connect people together- it has a beautiful social, human aspect, if you just yourself share the joy it brings you.”