Motorsport Australia affiliated New South Wales based clubs were handed a financial boost last month through the State Government’s Grassroots Sport Fund initiative.
 
The once-off grant of up to $1,000 was provided to around 12,500 eligible local clubs and associations across all forms of community sport in order to help them recover from the impacts of COVID-19.
 
With the assistance of Motorsport Australia, 88 clubs from New South Wales were successful in their applications and received the financial assistance of up to $1000 – more than half of which received the full amount.
 
While many of the clubs used the funding on their affiliation fees, registration and insurance costs, others used the grant to either upgrade infrastructure and covid safe collateral for venues or to recover some money lost during a difficult 2021, which included non-refundable deposits for cancelled events.
 
Some of the clubs to receive the funding include the Kempsey Sporting Car Club, the Bathurst Light Car Club and the North Shore Sporting Car Club – the latter of which used the money to recoup the losses of their biggest event, the Rally of the Bay.
 
“We rescheduled the date of Batemans Bay three times and made a loss because of it, which is where the funding helped, but we were quite fortunate that not all our sponsors asked for the money back,” North Shore Sporting Car Club President Brett Middleton said.
 
“We’re also pretty lucky that we have a Government that has a good eye on motorsport and we have been working with them quite a lot in the past, so it was fantastic to see them throw their support for us and many of the other local sporting organisations and clubs.
 
“Any funding is always good, regardless of how much it was, and it is always helpful to volunteer clubs, so we are grateful to both the Government and Motorsport Australia for helping us get the assistance.
 
“At the end of the day, the support of community sporting clubs is what it is all about and gestures like these definitely go a long way in protecting the sustainability of these clubs.”