MGPA President's Report 2021-2022
I took over this position 12 months ago because I am one of those mothers that say to their children, if you are not happy about it, do something about it.
I walked into this position not knowing a thing about strategic planning, council, meetings, grants, fundraising or pretty much anything that is required to do the job. So I read, meet a bunch of people and worked it out.
Today I can proudly say that our Association has a strong focused strategic plan, policies and guidelines, clear succession plans, a healthy budget and a sizeable group of happy members.
The year in a timeline….
August to September 2021 saw the drafting of our strategic plan which you can all now view on our updated website www.maidengully.com.au, thanks to one of our very clever board members Caleb. Shannon, another fantastic board member, re-drafted our constitution to modernise it and reflect the association's current requirements.
October was the month that our members managed to make a tidy $1400 fundraising profit through a Bunnings sausage sizzle. We also took over operations of the Maiden Gully Community Hall, which was quite an accomplishment for the community.
November saw some more fundraising activities for our members, and I must say, they were so pro-active and supportive. A big thanks to IGA Maiden Gully for letting us sell our Christmas raffle tickets out the front of your store. Congratulations to our winners Harry, Damian and Gail, all very worthy winners.
This was also the month I made my first ever budget bid to council. I have to admit, when I do things, I don’t muck around. The budget bid was for a massive $60,000 paint for our Community Hall. This was unfortunately knocked back for maintenance reasons. However, I was successful in several other grants.
In total we were successful in obtaining $39,053 this year in grants. These have so far been spent at our Autumn Festival, on essential ongoing items, on our Ride/Walk project as well as a large portion will be spent upgrading our much-loved Community Hall.
December saw the delivery of 20 plum puddings to our wisest residents. They were so very grateful for our company and gift.
The earlier part of 2022 year had a detour through Schumakers Lane to enable the Department of Transport to conduct work on Allies Road. As an unfortunate consequence of this, a number of collisions occurred on the Calder Highway along Maiden Gully, resulting in a few casualties.
Meetings and correspondence to various departments were sent, aiming not only to alleviate the immediate issue, but to source a more permanent solution. The result was a suggestion to encourage Maree Edwards to request for the State Government Budget to fund the $11.7 million required to upgrade the Maiden Gully Rd/Calder Highway intersection. This is believed to be the intersection that will provide ‘pulses’ to the highway to provide a much needed temporarily solution, prior to the much-needed highway upgrade. Please see Marong Road Engagement Plan for further information: Marong Road Engagement Report_WEB_March 2020 2022-05-30 10_04_58.pdf
Or:
Email: NRengagement@roads.vic.gov.au
Call: 133 RRV (133 778) Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm
Write: Regional Roads Victoria, 53–61 Lansell Street, East Bendigo, 3550
May saw our inaugural Maiden Gully Autumn Festival. To say this event was a success would be an understatement. The Maiden Gully community and surrounds obviously relished their long awaited opportunity for entertainment, camaraderie and fun. By the end of the day our food vans had sold out, we had exceeded our expectation of guests and the entertainers had rocked our socks off!
The Flannos played the finale for the festival and by this time we were all shopped out, fed, painted, petted cute animals, had a balloon toy and were ready to dance….
A massive thank you to our sponsors and supporters, City of Greater Bendigo, Kangaroo Flat Community Enterprise, Jenny’s Early Learning Centre, Wilson’s Plumbing, Waller Realty, Lisa Chester’s MP and of course the event venue – Balgownie Bendigo
Ride | Walk
The middle of this year has seen a focus on our Ride | Walk sub-committee.
Our Facebook page showed considerable interest in this area with over 2000 people ‘reached’ regarding this topic.
If you are interested in joining or finding out more information on our RIDE | WALK sub-committee, please visit our RIDE | WALK page.
Thank You
Lastly, I would like to send out a massive thank you to all the members, stakeholders, businesses, councillors, and diary managers that have helped me along the way. Your ongoing support, education, time and resources have not only been a help to me, but the system I have managed to put into place now, and for future successions. THANK YOU SO MUCH.
Join Us
I recently wrote a blog on our website titled ‘Meet the president’. It was not only about me as a modern leader, but the association's need for more members and how I feel you can make time to fit us into your busy world. Please check it out.
You can contact us anytime on:
Email: admin@maidengully.com.au
Yours sincerely,
Melissa Bishop
President
Maiden Gully Progress Association