Rochester Football Netball Club has launched a special membership initiative ahead of the new Goulburn Valley League season aimed to help the community recover from the devastating floods last year.
The township of Rochester was hammered by flooding when the Campaspe River burst its banks in October, with almost the entire town inundated.
Now, as Rochy continues along the long road to recovery, the Tigers have started a new campaign aimed at bringing people from the community together.
The club is inviting people to shout a membership for locals, with the aim of providing a membership to each of the about 3000 people living at Rochester.
“We are asking other groups, too, and other people outside of our immediate area, to donate a membership to a Rochester person or family,” Tigers president Justin Cleary said.
“It has been received very well and we hope to keep pushing it over the next two months to really give us a nice kick-start to the year to re-engage our community.”
Memberships are available to buy online. Family memberships are available for $100, while single memberships cost $50.
A few months ago, Rochester was feeling the full force of Mother Nature.
Rochester FNC’s social rooms might have emerged okay, but the rest of the town was not so lucky.
Floodwaters had engulfed almost the entire town. Hundreds of homes and businesses were inundated, while schools and other sporting clubs were also swamped.
Months later and the water might have receded, but Cleary said the town was still feeling the long-term impacts of the disaster.
“If you were able to measure the mental health of the Rochester community right now, it would score pretty low,” Cleary said.
“There are a lot of people who are struggling emotionally. People are finding it difficult.
“There are a lot of outreaching effects, it can’t be underestimated. The emergency has passed, but it is a long way from over.
“We have probably 900 homes impacted, and they all have to be fixed. There is a long way to go, and it will take a long time and a lot of effort.”
With recovery efforts well under way, Cleary said the goal of the membership campaign was to give residents a place to reconnect with friends, family and the town again, something that is especially important with many still living out of town.
“We are so dislocated. There are so many people who are not able to live in their homes,” Cleary said.
“They are living in other towns or with family members away from here or emergency accommodation.
“We felt that we needed to help people connect. With that in mind, the idea was born that let’s get a membership for everyone in this community.
“If we can get a free membership for everybody to come to the footy and netball, that is a good way to connect.”
Football and netball clubs are one of the pillars of country communities, but Cleary said the membership initiative was about more than just sport.
He said the club would be hosting special events aimed at welcoming everyone from the community, with access to support networks also available.
“We want to find some other points of interest that will encourage people to come to a home game,” he said.
“They can come and watch a bit of footy, but they might come because we will have an event on — it might be a free family day, it might be an open stall day, it might be a music concert.
“We will also endeavour to have on-site outreach and mental health resources at the ground that people can reach out to.
“There are facilities and things in place, but maybe at the football in a more relaxed environment people might come forward and feel a bit more at ease to go up and have a chat to someone and say ‘I need a bit of help’.
“We want to be able to supply a place for people to reach out, a place for people to reconnect to their neighbours and their families in a fun and supportive environment.”
The memberships are available for anybody to buy and Clearly said the support would have an incredible impact on Rochester and its residents.
“Don’t underestimate the value of helping this community,” he said.
“This is a community in crisis and every little bit will help.
“If you buy a membership, we will make sure that we put that to good use. We will make sure that the greater community can benefit.
“It won’t be forgotten. Whenever the need comes, we would love to return the favour. Hopefully we never have to.”
To buy a Rochester membership visit https://rochesterfnc.bigcartel.com/product/rfnc-2023-membership