{"id":376815,"date":"2025-12-28T21:19:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T21:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/376815\/"},"modified":"2025-12-28T21:19:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T21:19:10","slug":"young-women-join-country-womens-association-sydney-branch-in-droves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/376815\/","title":{"rendered":"Young women join Country Women’s Association Sydney branch in droves"},"content":{"rendered":"

For a year now, Maddy Langabeer has been front and centre at Sydney’s inner city market stalls and attending cookery days to make and package jams, chutneys and scones.<\/p>\n

Growing up in Hervey Bay, Queensland, Ms Langabeer knew almost everyone in her “tight-knit” small town.<\/p>\n

But when she moved to Sydney to study, she experienced social isolation for the first time.<\/p>\n

“You can be surrounded by millions of people but still feel quite disconnected,” she said.<\/p>\n

In a bid to turn the tables, Ms Langabeer, who is in her 20s, joined the Country Women Association’s (CWA) Sydney City branch.<\/p>\n

“A lot of people think it’s just tea and scones, but it’s so much more than that.<\/p>\n

“We all have the same goal \u2014 to tackle isolation and improve conditions for country women and children.”<\/p>\n

\"Maddy<\/p>\n

Ms Langabeer has been part of the Country Women Association for approximately one year now. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

Gradually, Ms Langabeer said she had noticed a growing interest in young women looking for connection and purpose.<\/p>\n

“I think our generation has a lot to bring to the table, while also learning from women who have been doing this kind of work for decades. Through the CWA we’ve all been reminded of what community spirit feels like.”<\/p>\n

From handicraft to connection<\/p>\n

Jemima Khoo has been with the CWA for a few months now after a recommendation from a family friend to join.<\/p>\n

“I’m not from the country myself, but my grandmother grew up on a farm, and she was always involved in different community organisations related to charity and handicraft,” the 27-year-old said.<\/p>\n

“I now do a bit of knitting which my grandmother taught me.”<\/p>\n

\"Jemima<\/p>\n

Jemima Khoo (left) and Sonia Martin (right) both feel they have lots to learn from the respective members of their CWA branch. (ABC News: Patrick Thomas)<\/p>\n

While she is yet to make any jam, Ms Khoo is keen to have a go at it in the future.<\/p>\n

In her downtime away from her job as a software engineer, she helps the branch prepare for and run their market stalls, where handicraft is sometimes sold.<\/p>\n

Ms Khoo said getting to know people in her city and making new connections had been a positive experience.<\/p>\n

\"Handicraft<\/p>\n

With a passion for handicraft, Ms Khoo says she is keen to involve herself further in the CWA. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

The role of city branches for a country organisation<\/p>\n

For fellow member Sonia Martin, 33, who grew up in the Northern Rivers and moved to Sydney in her late schooling years, she too was looking for a sense of community.<\/p>\n

“Sydney is so different \u2014 you don’t know your neighbours, you don’t have people around as much and I didn’t have my parents or siblings here,” she said.<\/p>\n

So, six years ago, she joined the CWA.<\/p>\n

“Being surrounded by a group of women who are both like-minded but also diverse in life experience is just something I haven’t found before,” Ms Martin said.<\/p>\n

“I think because there are women of varying ages, there are those intergenerational conversations that you might not get anywhere other than the workplace or within your family.”<\/p>\n

\"Sonia<\/p>\n

Ms Martin (left) says having intergenerational conversations with other women in the branch has been a highlight. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

Ms Martin sees the metropolitan branches’ roles as garnering support for the wider CWA causes \u2014 namely, healthcare accessibility, domestic violence awareness, education, combating social isolation and supporting local communities.<\/p>\n

“In New South Wales, the population is majority in the city. So if you’re looking at metro areas, creating awareness of what the CWA is doing in the regions and rural areas is really important for the future of it.”<\/p>\n

Vice president of the CWA Sydney City Branch, Alicia Kell, said there were seven CWA branches in the metropolitan Sydney area, such as Eastwood and Georges River.<\/p>\n

\"Alicia<\/p>\n

Alicia Kell says the CWA hopes to represent women throughout NSW. (ABC News: Patrick Thomas)<\/p>\n

With one member over 90 and about 10 members in the 18 to 34 bracket in the city branch, Ms Kell said she felt proud to be part of a diverse group.<\/p>\n

“We need younger, middle-aged and older members. We all learn from each other and that’s the lovely thing about it,” she said.<\/p>\n

“We want to represent women throughout NSW.”<\/p>\n

As Ms Martin said of joining a community group: “Take a chance, check it out, and you might be really pleasantly surprised.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For a year now, Maddy Langabeer has been front and centre at Sydney’s inner city market stalls and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376816,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,203119,64015,203124,203122,203125,203120,203123,134,203126,203128,203127,203121],"class_list":{"0":"post-376815","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-country-womens-association","11":"tag-cwa","12":"tag-cwa-in-the-city","13":"tag-cwa-ladies","14":"tag-cwa-markets-sydney","15":"tag-cwa-sydney-city-branch","16":"tag-cwa-women","17":"tag-entertainment","18":"tag-jemima-khoo","19":"tag-outgoing-president-of-the-cwa-sydney-city-branch-alicia-kell","20":"tag-sonia-martin","21":"tag-young-members-of-cwa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376815\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}