The Annual General Meeting of the Maclean Lower Clarence Hospital Auxiliary was held on July 18. The president, Sandra Bradbury, welcomed everyone with special mention of Jannette Coulter, the president of Ballina auxiliary and Deputy Zone Representative. Also given a special welcome were Mr Dan Madden, CEO of the hospital, and Nurse Manager, Anne Farrell. In her report, President Sandra outlined the fund raising events undertaken during the year and thanked her committee and all members for their support. The treasurer, Rita Nutt, thanked her assistant, Janine Adams, for her help then referred to her report, copies of which had been distributed to the meeting. It listed all the equipment purchased during the year at a cost of $75,588. Also on order are items worth $41,454. Mr Madden spoke about the year as being one of change and congratulated Sandra on achieving success in her first year as president. He expressed his pleasure in finally seeing the opening of the Rehabilitation Unit. He announced that Anne Farrell has decided to retire after many years of service to the hospital. Anne then spoke briefly, thanking the auxiliary for all the help over the years and the “fantastic” friendships she had enjoyed. She was then presented with a beautiful floral arrangement to show the auxiliary’s appreciation for her work. Jannette Coulter took the chair for the elections with the following results. President: Sandra Bradbury. Vice-presidents: Margaret Annand and Edie Quick. Secretary: Rhonda Shaw. Assistant: Alida Morley. Treasurer: Rita Nutt. Assistant: Kay Schubert. Publicity Officer: Maggie Combley. Patrons: Vera Montague and Judy Brown. Service award badges were presented to Dot Newton for ten years, to Judy Brown, Jill Causley and Jan Ainslie for twenty years and to Vera Montague for an amazing forty years of working for the auxiliary. Janette Coulter then read out a letter from Zone Representative Mollie Strong congratulating members on their work and dedication. In 2017 the Zone Conference will be held in Murwillumbah and the State Conference will be in Tweed Heads. In conclusion, Janette recommended that members take part in a CHOPS Program if one becomes available here and she wished everyone the best for the coming year. Afternoon tea was followed by the normal monthly meeting. The committee all looked smart in their new purple shirts featuring the UHA logo. These are available from the uniform shop in Maclean. The correspondence included a letter from the physiotherapy manager thanking the auxiliary for the treadmill now installed in the rehabilitation unit. There were much appreciated monetary donations from the Yamba Women’s Bowling Club and Yamba Lions Club. Gladys Henry gave two beautifully embroidered cushions. There will be a street stall in Yamba on Thursday August 4 for which members are asked to supply goods to sell and a raffle stall outside Coles on Wednesday August 10. The next major fund raiser will be a Golf Day at Yamba on Sunday August 14 at a cost of $25. Members who have joined recently are asked to consider helping on the trolley service as more volunteers are needed. All that is involved is about two hours of your time once every six or seven weeks. The next meeting will be at 2pm on Monday August 15 in the conference room of Community Health at Maclean District Hospital. The guest speaker will be Suzie O’Brien who is a community hearing advisor. New members are welcome. Maggie Combley