Sixty-year-old Auxiliary needs more members
8 November 2007
After 60 years of devotion to services at Tamworth Hospital, the Duri Auxiliary is searching for more members to save the auxiliary from folding.
The Duri Auxiliary was incorporated into the United Hospital Auxiliaries of New South Wales in 1945 when it sewed sheets and linen for hospital beds - and continues to help today by raising money for Tamworth-based hospital services.
Auxiliary President Patricia Gibson said it was unfortunate, but it is simply becoming too difficult to run the Auxiliary with the current numbers, particularly with a lack of members willing to take up executive positions.
“We have people here who have been doing their jobs on the Auxiliary executive for years and years and it is simply unreasonable to ask them to continue to return year after year,” Ms Gibson said.
“What we need are a few younger members who are prepared to take on executive positions.
“After 60 years it would be such a shame to see the Auxiliary fold, it has made a historical contribution to the Duri and Tamworth communities,” Ms Gibson said.
Tamworth Hospital Director of Nursing Chris Coombs said the fallout from losing the Auxiliary would be both sentimental and financial.
“It will be so sad if the group has to fold, they are one of the oldest Auxiliaries in NSW and it has been a historical link between the town and the hospital. I would like to encourage anybody who is interested in joining the Auxiliary to do so now, as your services will be greatly valued,” she said.
“Much of what the Auxiliary does is fund-raising specifically for the hospital, these contributions are genuinely a part of delivering better services to the community.
“But apart from the fundraising, the Auxiliary has been fantastic as a community engagement tool, it extends the hospital and its services to the small town of Duri.
“It is full of enthusiastic people who are just not able to keep doing what they have been doing. I think it would be just terrible if the group had to stop after all these years,” Ms Coombs said.
Contact: Nick Hansen
Phone: 49214918