This year the CWA turns 104. A quietly impressive age for a quietly impressive women’s organisation that was originally founded to improve the welfare and conditions of life for women, children, and families, in particular for those living in regional and remote areas.
The beating heart of Bangalow, is definitely the Bangalow CWA – a street-front shop at 31 Byron Street, where women from the CWA sell their handicrafts to raise money for those in need. The Bangalow Branch celebrates 78 years of operation this year!
Every month on the last Saturday, the Bangalow CWA hosts their infamous cake stall, where ovens are stoked, and the big bake off raises hundreds of dollars that finds its way back into the community. The Bangalow CWA donates the proceeds from these stalls to the Bangalow Food Pantry, SHIFT Project Byron Bay, Liberation Larder, Fletcher Street Cottage, and the Winsome. This is just some of the continual impact the Bangalow CWA has in the local area.
Another core foundation of the Bangalow CWA is friendship. The rooms become a place where women can meet and find companionship.
‘We give women a place to come and sit down,’ says Michelle Johnston, President of the Bangalow CWA. ‘They can do craft if they want, but they don’t have to. It’s somewhere they can just come and connect, and if they want to learn, that’s possible too’.
For many women, joining the CWA is a powerful antidote to loneliness and disconnection. Michelle recounted the story of one woman who had just moved to the region, who started coming in on weekdays to sit and talk. She started knitting, and found not just something to do – but a new group of friends. She also found that the work she was doing was raising money for vital charities supporting people experiencing homelessness.
The Bangalow CWA are part of the Far North Coast Group, where they join with other local groups such as Ballina, Murwillumbah, Mullumbimby, Lismore, Nimbin, and others to do their important advocacy and lobbying work at state meetings. At the 2026 conference this year, as part of the Far North Coast Group, Bangalow successfully presented a motion to give children the same protection under the law as adults. This addressed the evidence that shows that smacking your kids puts them at greater risk of being perpetrators or victims of domestic and family violence later in life.
Leading change with love, cake, and friendship, a safe place for women who knit, and those who don’t! The Byron Street rooms are open from 10am to 2pm daily and 9am to 12pm on Saturdays. Women are welcome to pop in for a cup of tea and a chat.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
