“I got confidence.”
If you haven’t heard of Alison, you have probably eaten some of her baking.
She has catered for lunches, meetings and hundreds of fundraisers.
Her two metre by one metre kitchen in her home is small but organised, and churns out some of the yummiest old-school baking, sandwiches and loaves in Gisborne. Her Christmas cakes have won awards.
When she is not catering, she is helping others . . . and during the odd moment of downtime loves to pick up a Mills and Boon book to read.
Alison says she never quite knows what each week will bring as events pop up, people always need feeding, and requests for help are always accepted.
She is one of those people who finds it hard to say no.
The neighbour who took her to that first Women’s Institute lunch in the late 1970s told her she would not have to do anything.
But after two meetings she came home the treasurer.
“I’ll always say I won’t ask anyone to do something I can’t do myself.”
Alison is a positive person but at 74 years old has had tragedies in her life. By the time she was 21, she and her two sisters had lost their mother, father and grandparents.
Alison also lost her husband early on from cancer, and one of her daughters passed away too soon as well.
But for Alison, the past stays there and she focuses each day on what is to come.
“You’ve got to bounce back. There is no use dwelling in the past, it’s gone, I just look ahead.”
She brought her granddaughter up by herself from when she was six years old, and is very proud of Rose who has gone on to get two degrees — one in psychology.
Because of losing her parents at a young age, Alison has always been very independent.
She sometimes worked two jobs — one was at Common Sheltons where she worked out the back.
“You wouldn’t believe it, I was shy back then.”
Alison doesn’t drive. Her parents never did either — she remembers her Dad had a bike, and how everyone always chipped in to help.
“That was how we were brought up, to help others.
“I’ve always loved the community and the people in the community.”
Fundraisers help boost the bank balance of the Poverty Bay Federation so members can travel to out-of-town meetings — there is a big one coming up in February 2021 to mark 100 years of the Women’s Institute.
In 2007, the national Annual General Meeting was held in Gisborne and people are still talking about it. The Poverty Bay women made more than 800 blankets in the Awapuni School hall to give to each of the visiting members. They also hosted a train ride and The Gisborne Herald was delivered daily to the women at the AGM.
Alsion says she has especially loved the friendships, right around New Zealand, that have been forged through the organistion.
“The more you give, the more you receive.
“Often the Women’s Institute will start a project in Gisborne for two years but 21 years later the project is still going.”
Sherwood Club is one example. The club hosts people suffering from Alzheimer’s and twice a month, yummy meals are delivered.
Alison says she loves baking, cooking and helping people. She and another lady used to do the personal laundry for residents at Te Wiremu, and she has been a St John caring caller for many years.
The shining moment in her Institute career was when she was awarded the gold honours badge. She was the youngest person to ever receive it. It is the highest award in the Women’s Institute for service, going above and beyond what you normally do and positive promotion of the organisation.
She remembers when she got the award, her granddaughter Rose, who was about 14 at the time, led the procession in and the badge was given to her by then Prime Minster Helen Clark.
Alison was also on the national executive of the New Zealand Women’s Institute for four years, has been recognised with a Civic Award for her untiring efforts with the Women’s Institue, and received a New Zealand Kiwibank award.
She wanted to thank all the members of the Women’s Institute, and presidents past for supporting her
“My family have also been my biggest supporters.
“You can’t do all these things on your own — there has always been a whole team supporting me.”
The New Zealand Women’s Institute began in 1921 as a way to offer rural women friendship and support. Since then it has evolved to offer women in all areas opportunities to be involved in the community. It encourages leadership, fun and helping others. There are now more than 4000 individual members, 245 groups and 38 district federations, of which Poverty Bay is one.
