Country women keep proud CWA tradition alive

THAT old saying you can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the girl is “dead right” according to CWA member Phoebe Mitchell

COUNTRY ROOTS: Phoebe Mitchell, president of the Toowoomba City Business Women’s Branch, has a long family association with the CWA. Picture: Rachael Murray

THAT old saying you can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl is "dead right" according to third generation CWA member Phoebe Mitchell.

Ms Mitchell is the president of the Queensland Country Women's Association Toowoomba City Business Women's Branch, which was founded just less than four years ago for Toowoomba's working women.

The local business branch is one indication the Country Women's Association of Australia, which has celebrated 70 years as a national body, is still going strong as it works for the country's regional and rural women.

"Our group doesn't do the cooking bits and pieces, we fundraise in a different way. Each one of us does our own bit at our workplaces," Ms Mitchell said.

"The CWA has longevity. It's a non-political organisation and can get things done where others can't. It also has a world focus."

According to the CWAA national president Noela MacLeod, the organisation is proud of its longevity and achievements.

"For the past seven decades we have provided women and children, particularly in regional and remote locations, with a national voice when previously they would have gone unheard," she said.

History of CWAA

•  The Country Women's Association of Australia (CWAA) was officially founded on 7 June 1945.
   
•  The Queensland Country Women's Association (QCWA) was founded before the national body in August 1922.

Originally published as Country women keep proud CWA tradition alive