General News
20 October, 2023
Band sings praises for its new trailer
CAMPERDOWN’S Lakes and Craters Band have been able to buy a new trailer to carry their instruments thanks to the support of the Cobden and Camperdown Community Bank.
CAMPERDOWN’S Lakes and Craters Band have been able to buy a new trailer to carry their instruments thanks to the support of the Cobden and Camperdown Community Bank.
The trailer will allow the band to store all of their equipment and transport it to community events safely.
Lakes and Craters Band president Chris Stewart labelled the trailer a “game-changer” for the band.
“We were having trouble getting all our gear around the countryside,” he said.
“Now, everything that we need goes in one place.
“We can take it, lower the back, unload everything, and we’re set up in 15-20 minutes instead of an hour.
“That means it’s much easier for us to do what we do.”
The trailer was revealed as part of the Lakes and Craters Band’s appearance at the Camperdown Show.
Mr Stewart said the trailer they originally had needed replacing.
“We had another, much smaller, very old trailer, which we could put most of our things, but not all, in,” he said.
“It involved people having to bend over and carry things while bent to get it loaded. Manual handling risks, that sort of stuff.
“It was not really rated to carry the load we were asking it to carry, so this brings us into the 21st century and keep us going for the foreseeable future.
“It’s not often a local community organisation of 30 people can spend near enough $15,000 on a trailer, but we did, and the bank made that possible.”
Mr Stewart said the band was grateful to the Community Bank for its sponsorship.
“We just thank them profusely for their generosity and hope we can continue to have a fruitful relationship with them,” he said.
Cobden and Camperdown Community Bank board chair Pat Robertson said the bank always looks to sponsor community groups.
“The band came to us to see if we could sponsor them, and we thought it was a great opportunity because the band has lots of members and therefore we’re supporting a group that is really involved in the community,” she said.
“There’s a lot of community events that they attend and therefore it was a win-win for us; it’s a it of a mobile billboard for us as well, as well as something useful and something the band really wanted.
“I think it’s really exciting that we can be out there and seen all around the shire and beyond, because the band often plays in Warrnambool and other places and they take their trailer.”
Mrs Robertson said, in the last 12 months, the bank has been able to support many community groups.
“We’ve been able to support the community groups because the community supports us, and that’s the only way we’ll keep supporting, by getting support from the community,” she said