In the Community

Look at the community groups we've already helped!

• Accessible Living Options – Annual Gala Sports Day

  Accessible Living Options assists frail and/or aged people, people with disabilities and their carers to remain in their own homes. As anyone who lives in a home they love can appreciate, having to leave your family home would be a huge change to your lifestyle, and many people see this as taking away their independence. ALO are to be commended on the work they do to empower people to retain their lifestyle and home, and live independently for as long as possible. ALO covers a significant area, including the towns of Bathurst, Rockley, Burraga, Perthville, Trunkey Creek, Blayney, Oberon, Wattle Flat, Sofala, Wallerawang and surrounding areas. ALO provides three programs:

  • Disability – services to support people with a disability. They are a registered NDIS Provider.
  • Aged Care – services to support people to stay in their own home. They are an Aged Care Provider.
  • Carer Support – provides the carer with a time out or a break. It is short term, planned, flexible and time-limited, and aims to meet the individual needs.

  Accessible Living Options host an annual Sports Gala Day supported by Family First Bank. The 6th Annual Gala day was held at Bathurst Sports Ground and participants came from disability services from across the region. The day included running races, wheelchair races, a giant soccer game, a softball game and then singing and dancing to complete the day. The day was one of much happiness and laughter and a great celebration of abilities. Bathurst Mayor Graeme Hanger presented ribbons to the very proud participants at the end of the day. Thanks to the Bathurst Lions Club for cooking the very popular sausage sizzle.

• Lithgow Swimming Club

  Lithgow Swimming club offers individual opportunity to develop and achieve personal, maximum potential in swimming and promotes the physical and social benefits of swimming in a safe and friendly environment. The Lithgow Swimming Club logo We teach and train swimmers of all levels to achieve individual progress while striving to develop life qualities through sport by valuing health, fitness, sportsmanship, citizenship, honesty, respect, hard work, discipline, teamwork and fair play. Swimmers can improve swimming skills and stroke, race against the clock or other competitors and have a great time while doing it! We focus on individual racing with improvement in times rather than necessarily racing against each other. We hold 16 Friday Night Races nights in the summer season and 4 in the winter season. The focus of these nights is about grading and times and not necessarily what position you finish in. We have the Kia Swim Stars of the Week which identifies the swimmers that have the biggest improvements in time. We hold our annual Club Championships in March of each season which is the only time we focus on age divisions and the focus on this event it participation and individual times based on a point system. Our swimmers range in ages from 5 years old to 50, and we have a lot of families that the whole family all swim. All of our hard-working coaches and committee are volunteers and we run purely on the support of the community through donations and sponsorship. Money is used for the purchase of training equipment including kick boards and flippers and also has enabled us to purchase the best timing and starting equipment so that we can prepare our swimmers for competitions. It also enables us to contribute towards costs of coaching courses, technical official courses and our Presentation night. With the upgrade to the aquatic centre we have been able to run major Carnivals on a local level which included out State Qualifying Twilight Meet. These carnivals cannot be held without the generous donations of our sponsors. We will be holding the Twilight Event again this year in November which we are very excited about.

• Blackheath and Mt. Victoria RSL Sub-Branch

  Family First Bank is proud to support the Blackheath and Mt. Victoria RSL Sub-Branch as part of our annual Community Support Grants program. The group is dedicated to honoring those who have served our nation through military service and focuses on the care of service men and women and veterans and their dependents. The RSL organise and run commemorative services for Blackheath and Mt. Victoria – ANZAC Day, Remembrance Day, Vietnam Veterans Memorial Service and dedication services for passed members. They are an active member of our local community and support the Blackheath Area Community Alliance and local charities and service organisations. The grant from Family First assisted the RSL Sub-Branch to buy brochures to promote the organisation in the local communities. This brochure is linked below – please take some time to have a look. Secretary Tony Jaques said “As a local charity, we looked to FFCU as a natural fit – an organisation that has community values that are compatible with our own and where locals can provide a service that can be shared by our community in this area.” We are glad that we could help Tony – and look forward to working with you in the future. The RSL Hall is available for public hire – call Hon Secretary Tony Jaques on 0412359101 for details. View the RSL brochure here Pictured: Geoff and Peter Churchill

• Centacare Bathurst Family Day

  Family First is proud to support Centacare – whose aim is to improve the well being of children and families in the Bathurst Community. Centacare hold an annual “Bathurst Family Day” event, which is always a great family and community occasion. The funds received from Family First Community Support program this year were put towards making this family day the huge success that it is. A brief overview of the success of the Family Day was provided by the organisers:

  • The Family First Bank Community Grant was used to provide face painting and microphones for the MC and entertainers.
  • Microphones enabled the crowd to enjoy music, singing, children’s drama, and assisted the MC to keep the crowd informed and engaged.
  • Approximately 1,200 people attended this year’s event.
  • Feedback collected on the day consistently reflects positive comments and appreciation of this grassroots, inclusive community event for the whole family.

  Great job Centacare, we are proud to support this fantastic family and community focused initiative!

• Christmas and Beyond Lunch

  When the young boy was asked what Santa had brought him, he answered that Santa did not come to his place, but that he came to the Christmas and Beyond Lunch to receive a gift from Santa. Christmas and Beyond were happy to be a part of helping Santa meet the hope of this small boy. Family First Bank has joined with other businesses, organisations and individuals in the community of Lithgow to help support the work of Christmas and Beyond in 2017. For the last 16 years Christmas and Beyond has relied on the community of Lithgow to help provide a Christmas Celebration lunch to those in the community who find themselves in circumstances that do not allow them to celebrate Christmas with family and friends. Christmas and Beyond provides a Christmas Lunch on Christmas Day each year, including present for all, from babies to 100+ year olds. It also generates random acts of kindness throughout the year to help people in the Lithgow Community meet unexpected circumstances.

• Bathurst Public School Father's Day BBQ

  There were 300 eggs, 600 pieces of bacon, 200 juice boxes and more than 250 smiling faces at this year’s Father’s Day Breakfast Barbecue at Bathurst Public School. Proudly sponsored by Family First Bank Bathurst, the barbecue is one of the major events on the school P&C’s annual fundraising calendar. This family focused event aims to build a strong school community by encouraging local families to meet and mingle in a relaxed social setting, while at the same time raising much needed funds for the school. Money raised from this year’s event will go towards a number of current projects, such as purchasing new novel sets for the library, new netball rings and sports equipment, as well as a landscaping master plan for an interactive nature area. Congratulations to Bathurst Public School P&C for running such a successful event – we are glad Family First Bank was able to support your good work.