February 1, 2013
The South Burnett Regional Council’s new Councillor Discretionary Fund got one of its first uses this week when Deputy Mayor Keith Campbell handed over a $1400 cheque to the region’s equally new St John Ambulance branch.
The cheque will help the group pay part of the cost of their uniforms and training materials.
The St John Ambulance will be taking over many of the activites of the former Emergency Services Cadets program’s South Burnett branch.
The Emergency Services Cadets were axed in September last year by the State Government as a cost-saving measure.
Cr Campbell said that he was delighted to be able to help the new branch get on its feet.
“The Emergency Services Cadets was a great program and it was very sad it had to close,” he said.
“But St John are bringing it back to our region in a new form and giving the South Burnett a valuable new community service at the same time. I believe Council should support that.”
Cr Campbell made use of his new Councillor Discretionary Fund to help the group.
The fund was passed by the SBRC last November to help community organisations obtain funding from Council with less red tape.
Under the policy, the Council now sets aside an amount in each Budget to meet requests from community groups for financial assistance.
Using a simple set of guidelines, Councillors can then make grants from their individual accounts to not-for-profit groups that provide services or activities which benefit communities in the SBRC’s area.
St John’s Acting Divisional Manager Naomi Beutel, who accepted the cheque, said the new branch already has more than 15 adult members and over 20 cadet members, and was looking forward to the future.
“St John have three groups people can enrol into: Juniors, Cadets or Adults,” she said.
“The adults meet one night every week for training. Juniors and Cadets meet weekly too, but only during school terms.”
St John accept members from the age of eight upwards. They learn first aid skills, and can gain recognised qualifications in several areas at no cost.
If you’re interested in joining the new branch or helping out, you can find out more information by contacting Naomi on 0417-578-623 or by emailing her.
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