With more than 70 people in attendance, it was a day for reflection of the past year that has been for the Red Cross. 

“We support disaster relief but thankfully we haven’t had any local disasters in quite a while,” Lithgow Red Cross president Norma Stephenson said. 

The celebrations included fundraising, with raffle tickets sold to raise money for Red Cross House. 

“The Red Cross is a great organisation and all our money that we raise goes to Red Cross in Australia,” she said. 

Red Cross member Elaine McMahon was praised for her work on creating 1080 ‘trauma teddies’ for children, adults and the elderly who have been through medical treatments. 

“The teddies get delivered to the young and old at both hospitals and dentists,” Ms Stephenson said. 

To decorate the area members of the Red Cross created paper flowers to brighten the backdrop and create a garden party theme. 

Councillor Maree Statham was in attendance and, despite not getting the memo about wearing a fancy hat, used her creativity and turned one of the paper flowers into a decorative hat. 

Lithgow Mayor Stephen Lesslie, Member for Bathurst Paul Toole and Federal Member for Calare Andrew Gee were in attendance at the event. 

“Great things are happening with the Lithgow Red Cross and we need more people to donate to this very worthy cause,” MP Paul Toole said. 

“You provide extraordinary commitment to people locally, so I just want to thank you for your hard work, because you spend countless hours serving a cause that is greater then ones self,” Andrew Gee said. 

“Thank you for the invite, it’s great to be here because your contribution to the Red Cross means a lot to me. My mum was a life time member so this cause holds a special place in my life,” Mayor Lesslie said. 

The party also offered the chance to thank members who had been with the Lithgow Red Cross for ten years and one dedicated member also received a 20 year bar. 

“We have an amazing team of girls here, with only women workers in the Lithgow Red Cross,” Norma Stephenson said.