Hidden Treasure Kay Brennan during her Kiama Pony Club days. Photos: Supplied.
For Jamberoo’s Kay Brennan, volunteering wasn’t just a way to give back — it was a way of life, sparked by her father’s legacy and fuelled by her passion for community groups to “not just survive, but thrive”.
Now, her lifetime of quiet dedication has been recognised with her induction into the prestigious NSW Hidden Treasures Honour Roll, honouring rural women volunteers who give to their communities.
Kay was joined by seven other Illawarra women honoured in May, including Sandra Hansen of Kiama Downs, Jennifer Judd of Jamberoo, Suzanne Eggins of Kiama, Boni Maywald of Kiama, Joelie Robson of Gerringong, and Judy Sandilands of Kiama.
Kay said her dad had grown up in an era where he used his horses for ploughing the paddocks and there was a need for junior farmers to know how to handle horses, prompting him to become a founding member of the Kiama Pony Club.
“I then went through pony club and really enjoyed it,” she said.
“Volunteers kept it going then when we were kids.
“From there, I realised if you don’t have volunteers, things don’t continue on, so I started volunteering and instructing.”
Kay was just 17 years old when she began volunteering for the pony club, only taking a short break from it after getting married, before returning when her own children joined as riders.
“That was the catalyst for restarting volunteer work,” she said.
While she’s not directly involved in the Kiama Pony Club these days, she still volunteers for the Kiama Show and is a steward in the horse section at the Sydney Royal Easter Show.
“I used to go to shows as a young kid, and saw the people volunteering there,” she said.
Kay Brennan volunteering at pony club.
As a parent, she found herself consistently stepping up to support organisations that mattered to the Jamberoo community, from helping out at the Jamberoo Playgroup and youth hall, to being involved in the Women’s Hockey Club and supporting the Catholic church and primary school.
She even drove fire trucks for the Jamberoo Bush Fire Brigade.
“That started out when the captain at the time was needing volunteers and got a few of the ladies involved in going down,” she said.
“A lot of the fellas weren’t around in the middle of the day, so I started doing that.
“I had a truck licence, so I used to drive the truck.
“I don’t go on the call-outs now, but if there’s barbecues, I help with that, or the big car show here in Jamberoo, I help with the parking and collecting money.”
She said a large part of her drive to volunteer over the years came from being part of a close-knit community where people looked out for each other because they knew the history of the place and its people.
“You do it not for the accolades, but because you just do it,” she said.
However, Kay said she was grateful and honoured to have been acknowledged as a Hidden Treasure.
She said her philosophy had been simple – for any organisation to not just survive, but thrive for future generations, it needed dedicated volunteers.
“You do go through ebbs and flows and there’s always the push to get the numbers happening, but it’s good to see when those numbers are growing,” she said.
“If you don’t have people there to help, things will fold.”
