Inarrabri

10 iNarrabri Magazine

May 20th - June 2nd

The Craic

with Craig

photo:

Chris Jollow

Sally, how long have you been involved with

this organisation and how did you come

about joining?

I joined in 1990 mainly because of my

mother’s involvement and also because I

cared about the place. I have been President

since 1993 and have become the face of the

ladies auxiliary chairing our monthly meeting

and being on a number of other hospital com-

mittees.

Aside from the canteen are there any other

jobs you perform to assist the hospital, its

staff and patients?

We have a trolley that goes to the patients

each week day with papers, magazines, drinks,

toiletries, sweets etc. Obviously when you do

your rounds you see familiar faces and you

are there to cheer people up as well as have

a chat.

The hospital went through major renova-

tions in recent times. What have been the

benefits to the canteen?

The original canteen was opened in 1995 but

because of its location many wouldn’t have

known of its existence. We are now positioned

at the front door and the canteen is much

bigger with room for wheelchairs along with

roomy seating. We have much more modern

equipment including a dishwasher and I think

all will agree it offers a bright and airy addition

to our hospital. The canteen is open from 9.00

a.m to 2.00 p.m. and we often have non-

hospital visitors over for a cuppa.

What type of food items do you provide

and how much personal cooking and prepa-

ration is involved?

We provide sandwiches, toasted sandwiches,

pies & sausage rolls, coffee, tea, hot chocolate,

milkshakes, muffins, scones & cream, bread

rolls of all descriptions. We also have home-

made biscuits and from time to time cake and

slice which the ladies make.

What would you say are the benefits of be-

ing a member of the ladies auxiliary and are

there any other costs involved aside from

donation of time?

The members are helping to purchase much

needed equipment for our Hospital, the aim

being to make Narrabri Hospital the best

equipped hospital that we can. We have really

good Doctors and what they say we need, as

far as we are able, we purchase. This therefore

helps provide for the needs of our local com-

munity. That is job satisfaction I believe. We

are all going to use the hospital at some stage

of our lives so we all have a vested interest. It

costs $5.00 a year to join and every member

needs to purchase an apron from us.

Have you targeted something for purchase

this year to benefit the hospital and if so

what are the costs involved?

Our targets are dependent on the needs of

the hospital and over the past year we have

raised over $51,000 from proceeds from our

canteen and local generous donations. All

funds raised in Narrabri stay in Narrabri. Some

of the items we’ve purchased include laparo-

scopic equipment to enable keyhole surgery

($ 15300), LED ceiling lights for the Emergency

Department($11870), training equipment,

courses and resource manuals ($6000), a

gas scavenger for the maternity department

($4500) and “busy bees”, which help distract

infants when blood samples need to be taken.

Do the volunteer ladies get much time for a

cuppa, jam scone and chat?

We do have our busy periods during the day

but generally we find time to relax and enjoy

a cuppa.

If people are interested in assisting you,

who should they contact?

They can contact myself on 6792 2058 or

Neila Bourke on 0457 921 539

What about the blokes, can they help?

Most certainly, we do have a male member

and he really enjoys helping out when his wife

needs him!

We dined at:

the Narrabri Hospital Canteen

We drank:

Dilmah Tea

We ate:

scones & jam (Hermidale CWA Land

Cookery Book)

Sally was dressed:

comfortably but also sen-

sibly in preparation for a following hospital

engagement

Narrabri Hospital Auxiliary: Sally Alexander

Interview by Craig Jollow.

Community helper involvement in NSW Public Hospitals dates back to 1934 and generally these helpers were known as ‘pink ladies’ because

of their attire. Help such as this began at Narrabri Hospital only a few years later and ever since volunteers have continued to assist the staff,

patients and community in general. Recently I caught up with Sally Alexander to find out more about her organisation and enjoyed home-

made scones with members of her team. Among this dedicated brigade was Beryl Heath who has enjoyed over 50 years of dedication to our

hospital - what a wonderful effort!