The Festival of Sails, organised by the Royal Geelong Yacht Club, includes the Melbourne to Geelong Passage Race, which is the oldest sporting event in the Southern Hemisphere, having first run in 1844. The event attracts over 100,000 visitors every January to Geelong, with festivities held at the Royal Geelong Yacht Club (RGYC) and along the Geelong waterfront.
The race itself is celebrating its 180th year, and the Newtown City Hockey Club is celebrating our 24th year of assisting with the event.
Newtown Hockey Club provides cleaning and bin management services for yachting participants and the general public who attend the onshore festivities at the Yacht Club. In return, the Club receives reimbursement for the time and labour contributed by our members.
The event is one of the major ways in which the Newtown Hockey Club raises additional funds, without adding further to members’ costs. We expect to raise $3700 from this year’s event, which is a significant proportion of the club’s annual fundraising target of $5000.
Fundraising from events such as this is set aside for the development of facilities, programs and recruitment of new members. Facility development can include improvements to playing surfaces at Lloyd Reserve (e.g. synthetic surface pitch), or the Lloyd Reserve Pavilion expansion project. The completion of the pavilion expansion project will provide a much larger social space, allowing club functions to be held, and contributing to club unity and connection.
Raising funds from projects such as this represents a saving of $25 for each family, as these funds would otherwise be gathered by increasing membership fees. The assistance of members is requested and much appreciated, so that the fundraising load is shared, without any actual financial cost to members.
What’s Involved?
The work is not difficult. It includes clearing tables, picking up rubbish, taking rubbish bins to the compactor to be emptied and replacing bins around the area for reuse.
Our work is much appreciated by the yachting community and those who attend the Festival activities. Our volunteers regularly receive positive comments about our contribution from those in attendance. As an added bonus, our participation also provides another means of letting the Geelong community know of the existence of the Newtown Hockey Club.
The Club is seeking volunteers to help with this event. Family, friends and any helpers over the age of 15 are welcome. Volunteering your time is ideal for school students who need to demonstrate involvement in community activities.
Members are asked to volunteer three hours of their time during the period January 25 to 29, 2023.
The roster can be found at the link below, with 84 spaces to fill, so have a look and choose when might suit you best. We look forward to your support.
Details and Sign Up Here
If you are unable to assist with this project, you may choose to make a tax deductible donation to the Club or to help with one of the other fundraising projects planned for the 2023 year.
