Women’s Committee of the National Trust of Australia

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There was a time in our history when if you wanted something done in your community you could call your local women’s committee to action and it would be done. But with so many women now working longer for economic reasons, the various women’s committees across the country are fighting for their own survival and that’s bad news for all of us.

The Women’s Committee of the National Trust of Australia was formed in 1961 to promote the objectives of the Trust and to raise money to support trust-owned property. Although still going strong in 2009, the Women’s Committee is aging and unless they can inspire more women to take up the cause, the committee could some day find itself on the scrapheap like so many old buildings.

Current chairperson of the Women’s Committee of the National Trust of Australia (NSW), Elizabeth Nock, told Australian Women Online, “I would say the majority of our members are retired from the workforce. Most are in their 70s and this is a reflection on the state of volunteering in Australia. When they’re younger, people have so many commitments with families and work.”

“We’re always looking for more volunteers because we have an aging committee – and because it takes many more people to run the various activities than there are on the committee, we look to a wonderful group of volunteers, both men and women, to assist us,” she said.

The individual members of the Women’s Committee come from a wide range of professional backgrounds, including journalism, medicine, nursing and teaching. “These women have left the workforce, but with the hours they would put in working for the National Trust, it would certainly be a part-time job for a lot of them. An unpaid part-time job I might add.”

The one thing committee members all have in common is a commitment to preserving Australia’s heritage and our environment.

“Our members are very concerned about proposed development and the new zoning that has been proposed by the state government,” said Elizabeth Nock. “The proposed changes would see medium density housing and blocks of home units going in where lovely old properties use to be. They pulled down so many wonderful buildings in Sydney back in the 60s and 70s and they’re now lost forever. But we need to look after our heritage and keep it for our children and our grandchildren – once it’s lost, it’s gone forever.”

The Women’s Committee run a programme of events called ‘Looking at Architecture’ where they conduct house inspections in a different suburb each month, and two Country Weekends per year and one Country Day. These inspections are for members of the Trust, and are the main fundraiser of the Women’s Committee of the National Trust of Australia (NSW).

“Our house inspection programme is our principal fundraiser. We’ve been organising these since the Women’s Committee started very close to 50 years ago. Each year we have six house inspections in Sydney on a week day where extremely generous householders open their houses to allow members of the National Trust to view their property. For them it’s an enormous commitment, they always prepare their homes to the very highest level and it’s an enormous privilege to visit those properties.”

“We have the six house inspections in the city each year and we also run two weekends in the country, again, looking at architecture. To attend, people must be a member of the National Trust and they must purchase tickets. It’s a properly ticketed event so you can’t just roll up at the gate,” said Elizabeth Nock.

The Women’s Committee works from Lindesay, a National Trust property, where they have raised remarkable sums of money for the important work of the Trust and in support of Lindesay. The Women’s Committee also hosts the annual Lindesay Christmas Gift Fair at the property, over three days in November.

The money raised from the Lindesay Christmas Gift Fair is used to maintain and restore Lindesay. The Christmas Fair is open to the public and has over 80 stalls selling quality handmade gifts like fine foods, clothes, shoes, stationery, jewellery, bags, antiques, linen, garden tools and more. You can even pre-order a pine Christmas tree this year.

LINDESAY CHRISTMAS FAIR

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“We do try to be very careful of the merchandise that is sold is of the highest quality. We have many stall holders who’ve been coming every year over the eight years that the fair has been run. For stall holders and the public who visit the fair, it’s an event they put in their calendar each year.”

“We have no trouble in selling all the places we have available for stall holders and the fair is very highly regarded. We have exhibitors who come from interstate, regional NSW and from around Sydney. The Christmas Fair is also an opportunity for people to see the Lindesay property because it isn’t open to the public very often.”

The Lindesay Christmas Fair 2009 will be held on 19th, 20th and 21st November from 10am to 4pm. Admission is $5 per person and you can find more information at the website www.lindesaychristmasgiftfair.com.au

The Women’s Committee also run two National Trust shops at Killara and Trebartha (Elizabeth Bay) in Sydney.

“The Women’s Committee is an amazing group of women. The time and the effort that people put into the various projects is outstanding and it’s a group of women you would be very proud to assist because of their attention to detail and their pursuit of excellence.”

If you are interested in joining or contacting the Women’s Committee of the National Trust of Australia (NSW), please call Natalie Clark at (02) 9258 0170 or visit the website www.nsw.nationaltrust.org.au

For information about committees of the National Trust of Australia in other states, visit the website www.nationaltrust.org.au