Central District Branch has a membership of more than 120 spread across a wide geographical region – from Gisborne to Wairarapa, Napier to New Plymouth, Otaki to Taupo. With significant urban centres throughout the region there is no single focus of CD Branch activities. Events often happen within each region, and some members also play a large part in their local literary and arts scene.
Because we are so widely spread we meet officially just four times a year: March (the AGM), June, September and December (Christmas). Meetings are held in different centres around the region. In the last year meetings have been hosted in Palmerston North, Hastings, Wanganui, Norsewood and Foxton. At least once a year we aim to have a speaker who will add extra incentive to getting to a meeting. We also try to link in with other events, such as arts festivals, so that the journey proves doubly worthwhile.
Meetings are held on Sundays from 11am to 2.30-3pm, with a shared lunch, giving those who are travelling long distances the opportunity to make the return trip in daylight. Attendance at each meeting tends to reflect the local membership and the challenging geography. Meetings usually see ten to thirty people present, with different combinations each time. Local informal get-togethers also occur within each region. These tend not to run to a pre-ordained schedule but are called as issues – or simply the desire to touch base with other writers – come up.
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