CWA shines at 20th birthday

Lorraine Devine, Carol Clay, Leanne Hammond, Vicki Burch, Margaret Prendergast, Nancy Matthews and Margaret McKay all received service awards. 197415_02

By Mitchell Clarke

Scones, sandwiches and tea were at the ready as the dedicated members of the Country Women’s Association (CWA) Pakenham branch celebrated their 20th birthday.

But the legendary ladies passionately claim they’re “so much more” than just tea and scones.

“We’re a great social issues lobby group with lots of resolutions, we’ve always been political and think at the forefront, we’re not just old women,” president Carol Clay said.

The branch began in 1931 but disbanded in 1971, reforming in 1999 where it’s remained a valuable and much-loved organisation committed to giving back to the community.

“We all love it, we hope we make a difference to the community, we enjoy what we do and we have fun doing it.

“It’s basically a friendship group, the fact we serve the community for the betterment of children, women and families is very rewarding.”

The Pakenham branch currently has 12 members but the team is always on the hunt for new members to join the 5500 members across the state.

“I often thought about joining the CWA but I wasn’t a craft person. And that truly is one of the urban myths that you had to do crafts to join but nothing could be further from the truth,” Ms Clay explained.

Projects undertaken by the group are varied, providing donations to emergency services and schools to cooking for community groups, their scholarship program with Pakenham Secondary College is their proudest achievement.

“We give them $600 a year to cover two students, and we sponsor those two young people throughout their schooling journey,” she said.

But the celebrations didn’t just acknowledge the hard work of the group, but also recognised the individual commitment of members, with seven women receiving service certificates.

In attendance, the Cardinia’s Men Shed joined councillors Michael Schilling and Carol Ryan, Bass MP Jordan Crugnale, Victoria Police community engagement coordinator Riki-Lee White and more.

Cr Schilling said it was a pleasure to be a part of the day and congratulated the branch on their second 20th birthday celebrations.

“We know they have an extensive history in the community,” he said.

“Its important work and you can see the dedication and passion each and every one of them puts into the cause.”

In the short term, the CWA Pakenham branch aims to welcome more members into their team.

“The other urban myth is that you have to belong or live within the country, but it was formed in the city to help country women. We’re women helping the country of Australia,” Ms Clay said.

“We also think Pakenham is a great area to live in and a great community with a lot of people doing great things to help.”