Held at EllaGoose Function Room on Thursday, September 5, more than 40 members of the group gathered for lunch to hear from guest speakers Tracey McGeehan and Susie Reid.
With the idea of a Benalla-based support group first raised in 1988, Gwen Turner and Isabel Stephens, along with help from DHS and the John Joyce Home, formed in 1989 and it has been running ever since.
"It's fantastic, it's a long time," group coordinator Sally Martin said.
"It's great to be around carers and sharing our stories, it's really good to see events like these.
"It was so good to feel like you're not on your own, you're not isolated, other people have been through this stuff, and it can make it a lot easier for you.
"That is what is great about a support group, it's carers helping carers."
And it's this backing that can also extend outside the confines of group meetings, with carers acting as advocates for each other challenges in day to day life.
"When my son was going through school and you'd have these meeting at school, you're very dis-empowered, it's one parent and all these myriad of people," Ms Martin said.
"I'd always take an advocate or another carer, and you'd come out and debrief with one another.
"And if you do take someone else, they treat you better. There is another set of eyes."
It was these themes of support that colored Ms McGeehan and Ms Reid speeches as they shared their own stories, as well as looked to the future of what the group could achieve.
And while the group has now notched up the 30 year milestone, Ms Martin said she was confident the group would go from strength to strength in the future.
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