Queen's Birthday Honours: Beryl Anderson's services to women acknowledged

Beryl Anderson has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Photo / Supplied

When Beryl Anderson received a letter in the mail saying she was being made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit she was stunned.

"I opened it and had to sit down quite quickly. I was stoked and stunned and had to read it about three times before it sank in."

Today Anderson's decades of services to women have been acknowledged in the Queen's Birthday Honours.

She's been involved with the National Council of Women of New Zealand since the 1990s. She was first introduced to the Rotorua branch of the council while living there between 1980 and 2000.

"I said to a friend I was looking for a bit of a challenge ... They invited me along to the Rotorua branch and I just loved it.

"It was a bunch of women and they discussed all topics. They wrote submissions on discussion documents and legislation and things that affected women. We had the most fantastic discussions.

"There'd be 40 people in the room and 40 different opinions. But you'd come to an understanding of what would need to be done to address the issue."

Those discussions still stand out as a highlight.

Anderson became the branch president, was then elected national secretary and subsequently became national president for two years.

That role required about 20 hours a week of work on top of her full-time employment but she "thoroughly enjoyed it".

Anderson moved to Wellington in 2000 and when her presidency finished she spent time as the convenor of the Parliamentary Watch Committee and the Public Issues Standing Committee.

While on the Parliamentary Watch Committee Anderson researched bills the national council planned to submit on and made oral presentations to select committees.

"It was a big learning experience but something I enjoyed."

She's come full circle now and is back on the Parliamentary Watch Committee.

Anderson was surprised to receive the honours.

"You don't do the work to get an honour but someone thought I had done work that was worth acknowledging."