Community stories: 6 August 2014
Tallangatta is a picturesque lakeside rural community, directly north of Victoria’s Alpine Region off the Murray Valley highway 39 km from Wodonga. The town’s population is just over 1100, and beef cattle and dairying industries, as well as a small tourism trade dominate the region.
Local SES needed a hand
The Tallangatta State Emergency Services (SES) Unit is a Road Rescue Unit and has attended many flood related callouts in the last 12 months. They also send teams away to support other areas in need of assistance. The Unit is very active in the local shire, providing First Aid support for local community events like the Tallangatta Show, the Rodeo and the Fifties’ Festival, with a current volunteer membership of approximately 30 members.
The group applied to FRRR for a Gardiner Foundation grant in 2012, and received funding to purchase a new marquee for public events. Their existing marquee was not large enough to provide a First Aid area and run sausage sizzles for fundraising at the same time.
Marquee benefits wider community
The grant of $1,500 funded the purchase of a 6m x 3m marquee with roofing and walls. It is used every month for either fundraising, community support or community education activities, and soon after it was purchased, the wider community benefited as the marquee was set up as a First Aid centre at a community fun run event.
Mrs Jean Blackwell, Deputy Controller from the Tallangatta SES, reported that the Unit was able to participate in more community events, utilising the marquee for different purposes.
“Fundraising is difficult in small communities, and without FRRR funding, our commitment to community education and public relation activities would be limited due to our inability to participate in all weather events,” she said.