A long-serving Ballarat community group has made the difficult decision to fold after struggling to compete with the "many other forces" vying for attention in the digital age.
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The Sebastopol RSL Women's Auxiliary, formed in 1946, met for a farewell afternoon tea on Tuesday, celebrating the contributions and connections made through fundraising and social activities geared towards supporting Australia's armed forces in and out of battle.
Membership peaked at about 20 women in the early years, some married to servicemen and others simply wanting to lend a helping hand.
They hosted dances, fashion parades, fetes, raffles, and coffee parties; visited people in hospital; and made cakes and crafts to sell along with ANZAC Day badges and Remembrance Day poppies, raising about $2,000-3,000 a year for the Sebastopol RSL sub-branch.
The last remaining nine members include two returned servicewomen: ex-Royal Navywoman Seena Hill, 97, and at the other end of the age spectrum, Sharon Sellars, who joined after a serving in the army including on deployment to Iraq in 2006-07.
Scottish-born Seena made 32 years of memories with the group, including a stint as president, and fondly recalls the dances as well as working bees.
To her, the auxiliary represents "hardworking, happy women who all got on very well and still keep in touch".
"They did help a lot of people," Seena said of the founding members.
"There was a lot of unemployment at the time, and some of the women who've passed away did a tremendous amount of work handing out food baskets.
"That's what it's all about: helping each other, even if the war is finished."
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Sharon's sister Gayle Sellars was the group's last president and made the call to wind things up at the end of 2022 as more and more members moved into nursing homes.
Declining numbers combined with new health and safety regulations creating more paperwork, and the complications of Covid, meant it was not feasible to continue operating in a formal capacity.
"We're proud of our age, but the work was just too hard," Gayle said.
"There's only three of us that are under 80 - and you can't ask 99-year-olds to take office," added secretary-treasurer Beryl Worsley, who's held her dual role since joining the group 17 years ago.
When it came to attracting new members, the "many other forces out there to have fun" made this increasingly challenging.
"Auxiliaries came out of the [First and Second World] War, when wives wanted to do all they could to help," Gayle said.
"Wars these days are completely different, and there's a lot more help available."
"You do try to promote it to the younger ones, but these days the majority are working or they've got other interests," Beryl said.
"Quite a few auxiliaries have closed [for that reason]."
While the fundraising has stopped, the Sebastopol group still plans to meet socially at least once a month, maintaining the friendships they've formed and supporting the RSL on a more informal basis.
With that in mind, the group's eldest member 102-year-old Joyce Prolongeau was content to let the group "go with the times".
"It's company, and sincerity," Joyce said when asked what the group had meant to her.
"What we've contributed [to the community] - that's for others to decide," she said.
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