VIEW is a leading women’s national volunteer organisation, and stands for the Voice, Interests and Education of Women, comprised of women only members from all walks of life who support the work of the children’s charity, The Smith Family.

The Hamilton branch of VIEW is no exception with a dedicated group of around 30 women who meet regularly and are interested in the educational outcomes of local students.

At the recent annual general meeting the following office bearers were elected: vice president, Avril Conyers, secretary, Sue Habel (minutes) Avril Conyers (newsletter) Julia Peillon (correspondence), treasurer, Annette Petering, welfare officer, Claire Finch, and programme officer, Dorn Page. The president’s position remains vacant.

Ms Peillon said it was a very rewarding group to be a part of.

“The collegiate attitude of the group is really wonderful,” she said.

“It’s a great way to make new friends and make new connections - old and new.

“I’m fairly new to Hamilton and so the VIEW club has been a great way to meet people.”

Ms Peillon said there were planned activities for every meeting on the first Wednesday of each month.

“We have a speaker every two to three months - they come mostly from our community - we’ve had some wonderful speakers over the years,” she said.

“We’ve had people from WDHS, people from Saving Wildlife, we’ve had an opera singer, a garden landscape designer who worked in Dubai - so we’ve had some very interesting talks.

“We’ve also had members who are lucky enough to travel and they have given us wonderful talks.”

The VIEW club’s next meeting is on Wednesday, March 6 which will be the club’s birthday meeting.

“We’re hoping to play some fun games and have a quiz to test everyone’s knowledge,” Ms Peillon said.

“For our theme, we’re asking everyone to wear green for St Patrick’s Day - we’re also asking our members to bring along a packet of cereal and that will go to Second Bite.”

All money raised by the local VIEW membership is donated to The Smith Family for distribution through the Learning for Life program, to invest in the education of young Australians. The Hamilton VIEW Club currently sponsors three students through this program.

There are more than 300 VIEW Clubs with about 1400 members around Australia open to women of all ages, that offer friendships and a sense of purpose and fun for members through supporting the education of disadvantaged Australian children.

Anyone interested in joining is very welcome to attend their meetings held on the first Wednesday of every month at 12pm at the Speckled Frog in Gray Street, Hamilton.

More information is available at bit.ly/49qrRRl