Gwen first became a member of Inner Wheel in 1956.

Gwen, Ron and the girls were living in Moree, NSW and Gwen was asked to attend an interest meeting to perhaps form an Inner Wheel Club. She wondered why she could possibly belong to another Club, as she was already secretary of the very active Anglican Church Guild and vice president of the hostel in Moree where children stayed to attend school in Moree. She was also involved in the girls' activities and supporting Ron in his Rotary endeavours. However, the word 'friendship' urged her to attend.

Consequently, an Inner Wheel Club was formed and Gwen came home to tell Ron she was foundation secretary!

The family moved to Lithgow, where Gwen became Foundation President in 1958 of the Inner Wheel Club of Lithgow.

Her District responsibilities began in 1962/63 when she was District 27 Vice Chairman, the district encompassing all NSW Inner Wheel Clubs.

In 1963 as District Chairman, she oversaw the division of the district into Districts 50 and 51.

1967 was an important year as Gwen attended the Great Britain and Ireland Conference in Brighton, England, as a voting delegate and witnessed International Inner Wheel become a reality.

The Australian National Association Wheel of Inner Wheel Clubs (now Inner Wheel Australia) was formed in 1968/69. Gwen was elected as Vice President and attended as International Inner Wheel Board Member to the first International Inner Wheel Convention in The Hague.

In 1970/71 Gwen was President of the Australian National Association of Inner Wheel Clubs. Following her year as Immediate Past President, a letter arrived from the International Inner Wheel President asking Gwen to nominate for the position of International Inner Wheel Vice President. After much hesitation, she agreed knowing she had no chance of being elected, but that assumption proved wrong.

She was elected International Vice President in 1974/75.

The year 1975 was a busy one as International Inner Wheel President. During her year, Gwen made official visits to Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India, South Africa and New Zealand.  In 1976, she presided over the International Inner Wheel Convention in Sydney, a highlight, as it was the first time an International Convention was held in the Southern Hemisphere. 

lt was most unfortunate that the Immediate Past President would not allow the secretary to travel to Australia, so Gwen had to conduct the Convention without the secretary. The day after the Convention the rest of the International Inner Wheel Executive left for New Zealand with instructions to Gwen to have the minutes and financial statements ready on their return! Fortunately, Rose Manches came to the rescue and filled the gap of secretary!

Since those early days, Gwen attended every Australian Conference up to 2008 and was fortunate to attend International Inner Wheel Conventions in The Hague 1970, Copenhagen 1973, Sydney 1976, Brighton 1979, Paris 1982, Orlando 1985, Norway 1988, The Hague 1991, Sydney 1993, Berlin 1997, Stockholm 2000 and Christchurch 2006.

Material on this site is Copyright
and may not be reproduced without permission

Best viewed in 1024 x 768 / 16 bpp (64000 colours) or more
Optimised for Microsoft Explorer 4.0 or higher..