By Jess Baker
Queensland’s oldest Pensioners’ League is looking for new members and welcomes all Warwick-based government pension recipients interested in connecting with others.
The club holds monthly meetings, often with guest speakers, and facilitates group trips and activities.
Gloria Ellis, the group’s oldest member, said the League provides a wonderful opportunity to make new friends and she recommends it to everyone eligible.
“It’s all about the general fellowship,” she said.
“I just wish I could have joined sooner.”
Gloria said her father was a member of the Warwick Pensioners’ League some time ago and his experience and glowing recommendation persuaded her to join in August 1990 at age 57.
She said the only thing that prevented her from joining earlier in life was her duties as a single mother of 10.
“We really hope to keep this going,” said Gloria.
Club president Michael Holland has been a member of the Warwick Branch for eight years now and said he has loved every minute.
“I’ve learned a lot being a part of the Pensioners’ League,” he said.
“I was dubious about it at first but I really enjoy it and I’ve gotten to meet some great people.”
The Warwick Pensioners’ League began in September 1937, when unemployment was sky-high, poverty was rife, and people were desperate for connection.
A resident of the town and father of 13, Arthur Pacey, recognised there was a need for an organisation that would bring together and build camaraderie among people residing in Warwick, and more specifically, among pensioners.
He proposed the idea to 50 pensioners at a meeting in the Warwick Town Hall and it was unanimously decided to form a branch of the Pensioners’ League of Australia. The branch would be the first of its kind in Queensland.
Today, 83 years since its creation, the club remains much-loved by its members.
That said, the club needs more members to keep it running successfully and at its full potential.
If you are in receipt of government assistance and you would like more information, contact the Warwick Pensioners’ League president Michael Holland on 0408 982 157 or secretary Madeleine Cristina-Holland on 0427 324 380.
