Regional Australia Bank staff Tianna Bettens-Smith, Imogene King and Sharna McMaster at the Community Partnership Evening in Moree on Monday night. Photo: Moree Online News.
Regional Australia Bank has distributed $230,364.24 to Moree district community organisations, an increase of $63,966.11 on last year’s $166,398.13 local contribution.
The 38 per cent increase was announced at the bank’s Community Partnership Evening in Moree on Monday, September 7, where representatives from sporting clubs, service organisations, community halls, schools and support groups gathered to receive this year’s contributions.
Among the largest recipients was Moree Boomerangs Rugby League Football Club, which received $24,721.
“This time of year we’re looking at taking around 150 people from the community to the Newcastle Knockout. So this money is so much stronger at this time of year coming in for that end, so we really appreciate it,” a club representative said.
The Moree Renal Support Committee received $22,547. A committee representative said cabinetry costing close to $5,000 was being made for the renal unit at Moree hospital, while the group was also looking at replacing ageing chairs used by patients.
Moree Cancer Support Group received $17,136, placing it among the evening’s largest recipients.
Moree Boars Football Club received $10,104.21.
“We’ll put this definitely back into the football club, the clubhouse we’re trying to complete,” club president Todd Mitchell said.
“It goes back into the community. The football community can use it, utilise it through the junior league and the senior league. So yeah, it won’t go to waste.”
The value of the program was also evident in what some organisations had been able to do with previous years’ contributions.
“The money that we got from here last year actually made all of our events free for all of our up to 25-year-old riders,” a pony club representative said.
“We got more this year, so it’s really exciting to work out what we’re going to do with it.”
First Moree Scouts said Community Partnership funding helped young people attend the Jamboree.
“They come back, you know, 12 months, 18 months later, they’re still going on about the best time of their life,” a representative said.
The funding will also contribute to local remembrance projects.
A representative speaking on behalf of the RSL and National Servicemen’s Association said Korea, Afghanistan and Iraq were three conflicts not yet recognised at Anzac Park.
“We only resolved a month ago to construct three such memorials,” he said.
“This will go a long way towards that.”
Moree Homes for the Aged, which operates 30 low-cost units for pensioners, said its contribution would assist with ongoing maintenance. Its representative said the units dated back to 1970 and the organisation regularly faced plumbing, repair and pathway replacement costs while operating on the rent it received from residents.
Regional Australia Bank Senior Manager Scott Behrend said the local involvement of branch staff was central to the Community Partnership Program.
“Our staff are your people. They come from your families, your clubs and your towns,” Mr Behrend said.
“This program and tonight’s event are run from the ground up by them.”
Mr Behrend said the wider Community Partnership Program had grown to more than $3.067 million, surpassing a target set for the year.
He also used the evening to make a broader case for maintaining face-to-face banking services in regional towns. Mr Behrend said a regional branch cost about $1 million a year to operate, but branches also provided access to cash, personal banking services and assistance with issues such as scam prevention.
He said Regional Australia Bank remained committed to regional branches despite the cost, arguing its customer-owned model gave the bank responsibilities extending beyond branch profitability.
Across Monday night’s presentations, the local contributions ranged from amounts below $1000 through to five-figure payments, supporting projects and activities spanning health, sport, youth participation, accommodation, remembrance and community facilities.
