Southland Branch celebrated Suffrage Day in two parts this year.
The first was our traditional breakfast on 19 September at the Ascot Park Hotel where more than fifty persons mixed, mingled and chatted. They included students from local secondary schools who always respond very positively to the occasion. This year we especially welcomed Josh, Josh and Tom from Southland Boy’s High School, a first for that school. When asked, they said they enjoyed the breakfast, and the speakers and, yes, they would appreciate an invitation again next year. So that will happen.
Our guest speaker was Hannah Pascoe, a local blind athlete, who was accompanied by her cousin Kara Roderique-Wandless and friend and mentor Andrew Morton. The presentation format was Andrew interviewing Hannah and Kara, a process that worked very well. As the introduction said, ”We have a special guest today, Hannah Pascoe. Hannah will share her story of reality, courage, resilience, and success. Hannah is accompanied today by her cousin Kara and friend Andrew who will help with her story telling.”
We heard how this athlete coped with riding the length of New Zealand with Kara and a backup crew over fifteen days; further how she learned to swim in a straight line in the pool and to run a marathon, also the challenges of changing the nappy of a baby on the move!
Forty minutes of reality, courage, resilience, and success were certainly the order of the day.
Our second event took place the next day, Saturday 20th September at a mixed media workshop, hosted by the NCW Southland Branch, alongside local artists Andrea Sexton and Mary Napper. The workshop was supported by The Southland Community Education Programme.
The workshop channelled the work done to create the very successful "Suffrage in Stitches" exhibition in 2019. Here a group of local women created A4 sized hangings celebrating Southland women who signed the original petition in 1893.
The results were exhibited for public viewing at Whare Taupua, Arts Murihiku from 28 September - 11 October. Some of the works are seen in the attached photographs:
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By
Margaret G. Cook
Secretary, NCWNZ Southland Branch
To read more articles from The Circular (September-October 2025) issue 654, click on the tag below.