AT the moment they may only be finalists, but the Bundarra Sports and Recreation Club are very proud to have gone that far in the 2014 Clubs and Community Awards.
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The Bundarra club is one of only two clubs in the New England and Northern Tablelands region up for awards.
They are contestants in the ‘Heart of the Community’ category.
The final awards ceremony takes place in Sydney on May 9.
The awards acknowledge that local clubs often contribute to building better communities and society in a number of ways, and consider nine different categories.
These include outstanding contributions in the areas of Youth, Emergency Services, Health, Sport, Welfare & Social inclusion, Environment, Heart of the Community, Education, as well as an Outstanding Regional Initiative award which recognises clubs working together to help their wider community.
Gary Cracknell is the current chairman of the club’s board. He noticed the entry about the awards in a Clubs NSW newsletter.
“They were just inviting clubs to write a story on their club or their community and that. What I wanted to do is just a history of our club,” Gary said.
He and his wife Wendy sat down and
We talked to some of the older member and read some history and just put a little story together and sent it off.”
On April 10, Gary received an email of congratulations from Clubs NSW. Over 200 entries had been received from 80 clubs across the state for the awards, and Bundarra was in the finals.
Since the groundbreaking in 1982, the Bundarra Sports and rec Club has been a hub for the community. The contributions from residents bind the club tighter still to the town.
Gary felt that the strength of their story was tied to that volunteer effort.
“The main crux of the story was, here at our club, everything is done voluntarily. We only have one paid person and that’s the person that does the cleaning. And even the one that does the cleaning, she does volunteer help in the kitchen and in the bar,” he said.
Open Friday nights and Sundays, the club also opens for special occasions. It caters for everything from birthdays and weddings, to sports events and funerals receptions.
“That’s what we were trying to relate the story to. It’s a very important part of the community,” Gary said.
He hopes to travel to Sydney for the awards, but more so to accompany long-time club volunteer Francis Layton.
“I’d like to try to take him down. He’s very, very active in the club. Francis has been associated with it quite a while,” Gary said.
“And John Hyatt is our current secretary, who’s been a big help. I did offer I’d take John down if he wants to come, and he’s thinking about it.”
