The rooms of Narooma CWA were a hive of activity recently with a visit from Eden-Monaro MP Kristy McBain one evening and a very special sewing bee on the following day.
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On Friday, June 30, a group of CWA women gathered to put the finishing touches on a pile of clothing and accessories they had made for disadvantaged children.
Uniforms 4 Kids
Narooma CWA branch president Marie Warden said the sewing came about after they were approached by a charity in Victoria they had previously supported.
The charity, Uniforms 4 Kids, supplies them with discarded uniforms from ambulance and police officers, otherwise destined for landfill.
The Narooma women use the uniforms, together with other fabrics to hand, to make clothing for disadvantaged children.
"We took this on a couple of months ago and today is the first group sewing day we have held," Ms Warden said.
She and Marion Cullen, the branch's handicraft officer, made the items at home on their sewing machines and bought them into the CWA on Friday, June 30, to have them finished with buttons sewn on and the like.
Ms Warden said she was very surprised by how many dresses, shorts, hats, scrunchies, pencil cases and library bags they had made.
Creates bond
"The children know the clothes come from the uniforms of police and ambulance officers so it helps them bond with those frontline officers," Ms Warden said.
She saw this first-hand while living in Wagga where her husband worked as a paramedic.
"Every week there was a young boy the paramedics had to collect and tend to, and he loved them," she said.
Her husband told her about the lad and asked her to make him a shirt.
"I made him a whole uniform.
"This kid idolised the uniform and wore it until it didn't fit," Ms Warden said.
Hence the work of Uniforms 4 Kids resonated.
She said the national charity worked with the group bringing in children from Ukraine as refugees or immigrants to clothe them.
Volunteer Grant
The previous day Ms McBain had visited the branch to present a $3650 Volunteer Grant.
The women told Ms McBain it was getting more difficult to fundraise so it had fallen to branch secretary Sally James to apply for grants.
This article first appeared in the Bateman's Bay Post.
