CWL NATIONAL CONFERENCE
16 – 19 JULY 2008, HAMILTON DIOCESE
 

AUCKLAND DIOCESAN REPORT
 

 

Greetings Madam President, Chaplains and fellow members

 

In this its 78^th year, the Auckland CWL has twenty-one branches in four regions, and a thriving Lone Leaguers’ branch.  This is a reduction from 2006 when there were twenty-four branches in five regions.  The Council, led by the three Jans, decided to amalgamate regions three and four with only one regional rep being required.  This is now functioning well after the slight teething problems of travelling across Auckland from East to West for the regional day.
 

It was also decided to trial fewer meetings of the council in the interests of finance and time.  This has not been an unmitigated success and we have found the need to fit in extra meetings to cope with the business on hand.
 

Hazel Woods, our regional one rep, has left Auckland for New Plymouth, our loss their gain, and Anne Bingham finished her term as rep for the southern region.  These two ladies are to be thanked for all their contributions.  We now welcome Anne White from Takapuna and Fleur de Farias from Pukekohe into these positions.
 

We got a little carried away some months ago when we thought a new branch was being formed.  Unfortunately this has not yet come to fruition, mainly because their parish, Owairaka, is in the terrible throws of moving their church, school and parish house to make way for the new motorway which is being put through their area.  Obviously there are bigger items on their minds but we are hopeful when the dust settles that we may see a new branch in Auckland.
 

Irene Farrell, our Mission Convenor, at the end of last year made a name for herself on the speaking circuit discussing her trip to Ambae in Vanuatu and the sterling work done there with the men of the Joshua Group.  Irene and little Sr John from Pukekohe did the cooking and visited local stations while the men did the labour to help renovate the Priest’s and nuns’ houses, which to our eyes looked almost derelict.    Local firms have been very generous providing goods and a container and donations have come in from various sources. 
 

They have just been again this year but unfortunately there have been hiccups.  The men and women power went off to Vanuatu but the container did not.  On the return journey with change of tickets to come back to Vila, they missed the plane as the transport did not turn up to take them to the airfield.  Irene did however get to Malekula Island to a friend’s ordination.  The goods in the container are now stored at the cathedral until they can be shipped, but they will need workers to return as well.
 

Auckland’s mission giving over the past two years totals  just on $118,000, an exceedingly impressive figure.  At our southern regional day last year the Priest there came from a mission station that was serviced by the League.  He spoke about this miraculous happening every so often when money would appear from New Zealand from a group he did not know but were certainly classed as fairy godmothers.
 

In 2008 we held an AGM rather than a full conference.  This was very successful, the only complaint being that there was a shortage of sandwiches. We had partially overlooked the first rule – comfort and food. The meeting began with the worry that there was nobody to step in to the President’s shoes next year at the end of the term, but it finished with not one but two volunteers.  The Lord works in mysterious ways.
 

The last few years we have celebrated our Annual Mass at Ellerslie Church but we are changing this year to Onehunga where we held our AGM.  The proceeds of this day are given to the Carmelite Sisters usually in the vicinity of $2,000.
 

Regional days are always well attended and it never ceases to amaze how much members actually do and achieve over the time.  Right through New Zealand, branches are scattered and in Auckland ours go from Kaitaia in the north to Thames in the south.  Jan Mudgway and myself travelled up to Kaitaia last year and while it is obvious that many members are not happy travelling in Auckland’s traffic and usually choose not to, I would choose traffic any day over driving through the Maungamuka Gorge on the tail of a logging truck.
 

In this report I would like to publicly thank the Council – the two Jans Moran and Mudgway, the Regional Reps Anne White, Colleen Aben (who also fields WUCWO), Pat McQuillan (with NCW and social concerns) and Fleur de Farias, the Mission Convenor Irene Farrell and the Lone Leaguer rep Pat Soar.
 

We are also grateful to our Chaplain, Fr John Allardyce sm, who usually joins us for lunch at our meetings and brings very uplifting prayers to help us with daily living.  He apparently thinks a lot of the League and us in particular.
 

Thank you to our executive at the top table and thank you all for your friendships and shared love for the League.  It would not exist without each and every one of you.
 

 

 

Janet Presland
Auckland Diocesan President