The United Hospital Auxiliaries (UHA) of NSW Inc held their Central West Regional Forum in Condobolin.

The event was held at the Railway Hotel on Thursday, 21 March. It began with registration and morning tea.

A special part of the Regional Forum was the presentation of a 2023 UHA Life Membership to Lola Wyatt of the Blayney (Central West) Branch. Mrs Wyatt has been a member of the UHA Blayney Branch for 43 years. She spent 33 years as Secretary and is currently the President.

Margaret Greig of the UHA Tottenham Branch detailed an interesting tale of the ‘Tottenham Hospital Cup’ which had been discovered in orange as part of a deceased estate. The cup was dated 1937, and there was little other information that could be found on the trophy. Mrs Greig and her Tottenham Branch members asked those gathered if they may be able to help with finding out the history of the Cup.

Marion Wighton-Packham delivered the Welcome to Country, with Lindy Hall singing the National Anthem.

UHA Condobolin Branch President Kim Jones officially welcomed the groups to Condobolin and then introduced UHA State President, Sally Cronberger, who addressed those gathered. Kim is also the Central West Regional Representative.

“Since 1933 the United Hospital Auxiliaries of NSW, through local member branches, have been responding to the needs of health facilities and community health facilities throughout NSW,” Ms Cronberger began.

“In 1952 a competition was announced for a suitable motto for Auxiliaries to say at meetings and at Conference. This motto was the joint effort of Mrs J McCrabb, Birganbigil Auxiliary of Deniliquin Hospital and Mrs E L Parvin, Taree Auxiliary.

“Let us hold high the Lamp of Service” came from Mrs McCrabb; and “For the welfare of our Hospitals” came from Mrs Parvin. This motto has been in use since 1952.

“The UHA receives a three (3) year funding agreement grant from the MOH with specific requirements, for example, communication with Auxiliaries via newsletters, Regional and State Conferences, website access, policy, and procedures, maintaining the fundraising license and regulatory approvals as required. In return we provide performance measures via collated information to NSW Health regarding the UHA member Auxiliaries activities (number of volunteers, funding amount raised, hours worked by UHA members, list of purchases).

“The 2022/2023 End of Financial Year results were: Gross fundraising income – $8,413,047.52; Net fundraising income – $4,726,624.18; Net gifted items – $3,278,848.71; total hours worked – 503,250; and total number of members – 3,581.”

Ms Cronberger then went through who the UHA Regional Representatives were, who the administration staff were, discussed the website (www.uhansw.com.au), Policy and Procedures plus the Constitution and By-Laws.

She added that there was a Chain of Command that needed to be followed should a Branch have a query, dispute or uncertainty regarding your Local Health District or a community issue.

“In order to comply with NSW Fair Trading requirements and for your Auxiliary to remain registered under the Charitable Fundraising Act, an annual Affiliation Fee must be paid,” Ms Cronberger said. The current annual Affiliation Fee is $33.00 inclusive of GST.

Ms Cronberger also discussed Branch Order Forms, End of Financial Year documents, and Annual General Meetings. She also went over several frequently asked questions that are raised by Branches.

She also revealed the UHA has a State Conference in the month of October annually. This year it will be held at Bankstown Sports Club hosted by the Calvary Health Care Kogarah Auxiliary.

She ended her presentation by pondering the question – What of the future for UHA?

“Throughout the life of UHA the one constant has been the NSW Health’s assistance and our value to the health service recognised with a grant and office facilities,” Ms Cronberger explained.

“The great strength of UHA is in the membership. One has only to read the branch histories to recognise the continued effort in many communities to maintain an Auxiliary. Every branch has a story of a long-serving President, Treasurer or Secretary and many Auxiliaries have been attending Conference since the beginning of UHA as a concerned, caring, and vital organisation.

“The challenge is for the present Executives and UHA membership to encourage others to recognise the need to sustain this support for our health services,” she concluded.

Guest speaker for the Forum was Heather Blackley, who currently works with Central West Family Support Group, and is on numerous community committees and part of many local organisations.

Branch reports, Regional Representatives reports, resolutions, Branch discussions were also part of the Forum’s agenda.

The Forum concluded with a vote of thanks and wishes for a safe journey home by UHA Condobolin Branch President Kim Jones.