For the first time since the club was founded back in 1937, men are now outnumbered by women after welcoming its newest members Janette Owens, Sharon Waite, Gai Good and Maggie Johnson.

Cessnock Rotary publicity officer George Koncz said that the female contingent of the 20-plus member club have proved a boon to the organisation.

“To be honest the women tend to be harder workers than a lot of the guys,” he said.

Mr Koncz said that the organisation’s open-door policy had been a boon to the club with female members often the first t put their hands up.

“It’s really great to see that we have more female members because they are always ready to put in the effort and are always keen to nominate themselves for things.They’re definitely catching up to us men.”

The international service organisation, which was founded in the US 1905, was once only open to men, but began accepting women in 1989.

Mr Koncz added that the club was always on the lookout for new members, both male and female, and encouraged anyone interested to visit the club’s website at www.cessnockrotary.org, or the Facebook page (search Rotary Club of Cessnock) for more information.

The Rotary Club of Cessnock meets each Thursday at Cessnock Leagues Club (1 Darwin Street, Cesnock) from 6.00pm.