Hall Rotary was recently a catalyst in helping the Crookwell community to raise sufficient funds to install modern lighting at the Crookwell Memorial Oval.

Inspecting Crookwell Oval

Inspecting Crookwell Oval

The Rotary Club of Crookwell initiated the lighting project but it had taken the small community two years to raise $18,000 of the $65,000 needed. The project was stagnating; the fundraising effort had gone on a long time and interest was exhausted. So Hall Rotary offered $20, 0000 as an incentive for the Crookwell community to put in a big effort to raise the final $27, 000 and get the project over the line.

Crookwell Rotary and the community have now succeeded in raising a total of $45,000, which means that with the $20,000 sponsorship from Hall Rotary the amount required to meet the cost of installing the lights has been achieved. It is anticipated that the lights will be installed and operating before the start of the football season.

Members of Hall Rotary visited Crookwell last year to support and encourage the community, and its promise of your support gave great heart to the Trust members and provoked a grateful response from the Crookwell community.

Another satisfying result of the $20,000 gift is that the Upper Lachlan Council, inspired by the project, has sought special grant funding to upgrade amenities at the Oval, including much needed improvements to the public toilets and the dressing shed. Indications are that this grant has been successful, and this work will go hand in hand with the new lighting – a great result for the little community of Crookwell.

crookwell handover letter

Hall Rotary Club President Barbara hands Crookwell Rotary Club President Don a letter of offer

Hall Rotary was happy to assist the Crookwell community with its project for a number of reasons, not the least has been the continuing involvement of Crookwell producers in The Capital Region Farmers Market in Canberra. The Market is run by Hall Rotary as a community project that provides marketing opportunities for producers and for consumers to have access to fresh food directly from the producers. The funds raised through this market are put back into our community. (Our definition of ‘community’ is the people of Hall and the immediate region and the areas of producers.)

Living in or near Canberra, we are privileged to have access to many excellent sporting facilities and know that it is often difficult for people in the cities to comprehend what life is like without them. Many of our club members grew up in rural towns that didn’t have good sports  facilities so we understand the significance of a project like Crookwell’s Turning on the Lights.

Here’s our Community Director, Chris Edwards, with Don Southwell, President of the Rotary Club of Crookwell on the night on which Hall’s $20,000 donation was handed over: