Rochester’s recreation reserve-based angling club lost everything in the October flood event and are among the many organisations now working Bendigo-based Regional Sports Assembly, Sports Focus, in the recovery effort.
Sports Focus business manager Stuart Craig led a three-hour Windridge Pavilion visit last week to conduct the first of a planned series of meetings with flood-affected Rochester sporting organisations.
Mr Craig, along with program manager Shelley Mulqueen and project co-ordinator Jasmine Noske, were meeting with clubs to offer advice and expertise on flood recovery, grant applications and needs assessments.
It was the second occasion the Sports Focus team had visited Rochester, having made the 45-minute trip north earlier in the month to assess the impact on the community’s sporting groups.
“It is a matter of being on the ground, instead of sitting in Bendigo and making decisions from afar,” Mr Craig said.
“We are attempting to help people access funds and help clubs get back on their feet.”
The Sports Focus assessment of Rochester, as the Campaspe and Goulburn Murray summer sports seasons get under way, is that some groups are ready for a return and others are not.
The three-tier, up to $50,000, flood-recovery program on offer to clubs is set to be a major part of the recovery process.
Mr Craig said this was where Sports Focus could be particularly helpful.
“This is our area of expertise. We would really like to help clubs access these funds,” he said.
Rochester’s angling club, which lost everything inside its clubrooms, met with the group last week.
Sports Focus has also been in contact with the Campaspe shire’s youth engagement officer to co-ordinate a return to sport.
“What we don’t want is a one-off flood-recovery event. We want to put something in place that will serve as a transition for clubs to return to regular meetings and competition,” Mr Craig said.
A three-tier reimbursement program on offer for flood-affected clubs starts at $5000, then has a $25,000 second tier and is capped at $50,000.
Clubs will need to meet the requirements of each level for reimbursement.
“That is where we come in. This week I’ve had meetings with Sport and Recreation Victoria to find out exactly what clubs can access,” Mr Craig said.
“A number of clubs thought it may only be for equipment, but this money can be used to replace anything that has been damaged.
“The guidelines for grants have been amended to ensure there is clarity.”
He said the Sports Focus team was now getting a sense for where Rochester was at and what clubs wanted.
“One thing is very clear, providing sporting activities for kids is a priority,” he said.
He said the group would soon divide its attention between Rochester and Echuca.
“We are encouraging people to use the networks and the leverage points we have.
“We are wired to this kind of work and we understand what is required to go through this process,” he said.
Sports Focus is also working, in the very early stages, to provide some support to the Rochester South community at Elmore Events Centre.
It has sourced a dozen bicycles, which will be relocated to the site for use by children at the temporary accommodation village, and is in talks about other recreational activities.
The angling club lost fridges, tables, chairs, barbecue equipment, cabinets and fishing equipment, having relocated to the site after the 2011 floods.