Community
21 May, 2026
The joy of giving back
MEMBERS of the Mortlake Country Women’s Association (CWA) Day Branch are among those being celebrated this week.
May 18-24 marks National Volunteer Week – Australia’s largest annual celebration of the contributions of the millions of volunteers national who give their time and talents.
Mortlake CWA Day Branch secretary Sue Long said the branch was small in numbers but passionate about the impact which the few can have on the lives of many.
“Supporting women, children and families is the mission of the CWA,” she said.
“That’s where our time goes and any funds we raise goes towards that – just helping in kind as well, helping out where we can.
“We raise money for local community initiatives, and as a group across the south west we contribute to things.”
The group tries to focus their efforts around the skillset of the members, with baking being one of the simplest yet effective approaches to raising funds.
“The CWA is more than just baking, but if there’s something on we might have a stall at the markets,” she said.
“We recently sold cakes at the Federation Picnic, but we’re always happy to have a go at anything else we can come up with.
“We’ve got our group craft exhibition coming up during the long weekend in June, which is an exhibition of all the hand crafts and cooking that our members do.”
Ms Long said Mortlake had a diverse group of CWA volunteers across both day and night branches, which helped to raise vital funds for local causes and those further afield.
“We’ve got nine members at the moment and it’s quite a good representation of the CWA in Mortlake because the night branch also has a similar number of members,” she said.
“The funds we raise year on year adds up to about $2000 or $3000 which we give away to local groups in our community.
“We also give money to a state project, depending on what that is, such as donating money to the Ambulance Service (HEMS4).
“We also donate to the emergency fund at head office, which is used for people experiencing flooding or drought.”
Ms Long said she enjoyed having so many opportunities to be involved in projects which help others, while also enjoying the social benefits of being a CWA member.
“It’s good to be able to do something for the community,” she said.
“We can use the skills that we’ve got to do that.
“It’s also good to belong to a group of likeminded women who are on the same page in our thinking.
“We like to work together to support the same things, so it’s a nice feeling – it’s very rewarding to be able to do it and feel we’ve done something for our local community.”
Ms Long invited anyone who was interested in becoming a member to contact her on 0418 992 825.
“We welcome new members at any time,” she said.
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