Mmm, chocolate: Our Women Our Children’s Jody White and Angelo Kakouras with Scarlett-Poppy, 4 and Lila-Willow, 17 months
JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
This is a tale of two auxiliaries; the small but dedicated bands of men and women across Geelong raising desperately needed funds for worthy causes.
Most of them rarely receive any publicity but their beneficiary organisations would be worse off without their efforts.
Ruth Mann has been a member of Geelong West Hospital Auxiliary (GWHA) for 17 years and secretary for the past 10.
“We have 18 members, down from 26, and it’s hard to get new members even though the club has been going for 90 years,” Ruth mused.
“We’re all getting on in years and there’s a lack of young blood, so it looks like eventually we might fold.”
Monique Holmes-Richardson is part of a younger team of volunteers running Our Women Our Children, which also raises money for Barwon Health.
The group had been operating for five years, Monique said, with 15 volunteers and growing – slowly.
“The majority of us were already working as volunteers for a national organisation and decided we wanted the funds we were raising to be utilised in our local community,” Monique explained.
The auxiliary concept hails from a time when the groups were common and an accepted means of raising funds.
But the fundraising industry has now become much more sophisticated, sometimes leaving behind groups like GWHA.
The group raises money for medical equipment at Geelong Hospital with fundraisers such as raffles and fashion parades.
“The hospital advises what it needs and we raise the funds. We do one item a year,” Ruth said.
Barwon Health’s Kate Nelson said GWHA had raised over $35,000 since 2004.
“This money has been used to purchase many other items, wheelchairs, commodes, tympanic thermometers and hand-held pulse oximeters.
“In addition to their fundraising activity, members of this group regularly participate in volunteering activity at the Geelong Hospital and form part of our volunteer base.”
Kate said Barwon Health had a large base of about 1200 dedicated volunteers.
“Support is in many forms, from volunteering around the hospital to driving patients to appointments to groups that fund raise for specific purposes.
“Our volunteers are an integral part of our professional teams and we consider them to be a gateway to the community.
“These charity groups are an example of the sense of ownership that the community has of the Geelong Hospital and wider Barwon Health services.”
South Barwon Hospital Auxiliary, Heartbeat and Geelong Cancer After Care Group carry out similar work to GWHA.
Monique said Our Women Our Children took a broader approach to fundraising, focussing on areas of need rather than specific pieces of equipment.
“We address a whole range of areas from children’s and adolescents’ mental health issues to helping establish a diabetes clinic in the children’s ward at Geelong Hospital.
“We fundraise to fill the gaps in government funding or areas overlooked by big funding organisations or grants.”
Monique said the group was open to both genders and any age.
“We work with small businesses wishing to raise funds for a charity and facilitate a function for them.
“We also work with likeminded community groups such as Rotary. We act as the fundraising event manager for community groups and businesses.”
Monique said the group’s main fundraising event was an Easter egg hunt held annually for the past five years at Bellarine Estate Winery.
The group was seeking participants to hop down and join in this year’s event, she said.
