After 77 years of community service in Whangarei the local branch of the National Council of Women has closed due to declining membership.
As Women's Suffrage Day was celebrated this week past president and life member Joyce Armstrong highlighted the importance of the organisation and the good work it had done in Whangarei, including a major project which saw the planting of nearly 800 native seedlings on the Tarewa riverbanks.
The Whangarei branch was established after a meeting in 1938 and represented groups including Christian women, registered nurses, farming women and university women.
The members last year voted to close but it was earlier this year when all the finances were officially sorted out.
Mrs Armstrong, now 92 years of age, said the Council of Women gave women a voice and allowed them to communicate directly with government, whish was not as easy to do as it is now.