The Queensland Country Women's Association (QCWA)

The Queensland Country Women's Association (QCWA) was established in Toowoomba in August 1922 by Mrs Ruth Fairfax. (The Federal seat of Fairfax is named after her.) Since then it has been the bastion of womens friendship throughout the State, and the community work done by the branch is often the 'glue' that holds the smaller communities together - even in modern times. The thing I like best about the QCWA is that each Branch has the choice to do what best suits its members, or is most needed in their Communnity. This means that across the State the types of assistance and services provided is widely varied, but it is all done with care and consideration for their community. Like their counterparts in the other States, they are known far and wide for their handcraft and cookery skills - but it is far more than that. I always say that "the thing the QCWA has done best - is keep a secret what we do." So I thought I would share with you some of the other wonderful State wide initiatives we have. For a better idea I suggest you log on to their website at http://www.qcwa.org.au or better yet, get involved with your local branch - by becoming a member if you are a woman, or supporting their functions if you are a man.

I hope it gives you a glimpse of what a wonderful diverse organisation we are - and as relevant to today as we were in the early days. When you log on you can see what we do to help DV Connect, about our bursaries for students, about our network of Accommodation that stretches from Cairns to the Gold Coast and at which everyone is welcome to stay - and the myriad of other bits and things we do. As I said before "the thing we have done best - is keep a secret what we do" - but I think it is time people started to hear the real story.

In essence I have selected 4 important functions to tell you more about and highlight.

Bouncing Back Program

The "Bouncing Back" program was born because there is nothing for general distribution to help people who are just feeling 'down', and need a bit of a hand up, to get their thinking back on track. We hope you will help us spread it far and wide. The feedback from it has been amazing. It also offers suggestion to help a mate 'Bounce Back" and also communities.

We have a saying that people need to "give money not stuff" when donating to those affected by a natural disaster, and offer other suggestions so we can help communities "Bounce Back". (See also our PRCF below.) You can print it off and give it out, or give people the link to it (http://www.qcwa.org.au/what-we-do/health-awareness/ ) and put it, or the link, on your own websites.

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Country Kitchens

Our "Country Kitchens" program was born out of the results of a survey that showed that obesity is 45% worse in the remote and regional areas of the State than in the cities - and they don't have the fast food chains to deal with - so we need to improve peoples choices of what they are preparing.

Our qualified dieticians and nutricianists travel to the areas to present their programs. Maybe we could bring one to your area.

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Ruth Magazine

We identified the need for a magazine telling inspiring stories of real people and events, so our quarterly magazine "Ruth" was born. It was named after our founder Ruth Fairfax. It comes out in March, June, September and December and is sold in newsagents (including in Northern NSW) and by subscription.

Naturally you can't have a QCWA mag without a recipe or a pattern/idea for handcraft, so they are there too, and we often feature a great home, garden or collection. The interesting thing is how many men enjoy reading it as well!

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Public Rural Crisis Fund

Last, but by no means least, is the Public Rural Crisis Fund or PRCF for short. This is a DGR so donations over $2 to it are tax deductible. All the money donated is distributed to those in need - the costs to administer the fund come from other sources. Anyone can apply. It is not means tested - if there is a genuine need we are here to help. We say it is "a hand up - not a handout." We do not give cash, we give vouchers, pay accounts and organise store credit. We feel it is important that the local communities are supported as it is not just the farmers/graziers affected when there is a flood, fire, cyclone or drought - it affects all the local businesses as well. We believe these need to be supported as we can not afford to have any more towns 'die' - we need all that we have now, and we need them to prosper.

Many people who are the recipients of help one year become the people making the donations once they are back on their feet. There are some private Foundations who distribute annually and always include the PRCF in their recipients. Each year we seem to distribute somewhere around the half a million mark and many years lately it has been more than that . Queensland is such a big State, if we don't have floods, or a cyclone in one part we have a drought or fires in another part - and some times we get all four!

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