The Williams Boys Appeal

Bids have closed and $800 has been collected for this very worthy cause.  The family is now (as of 22 Feb) on their way to the US and Disneyland and then onto the specialist thanks to the generosity of the Tweed community.

There is no doubt that the family will still require support beyond this trip so any donations to assist the long term care of the boys would be very much appreciated.  If you would like to donate, contact Gordon Rhodes at the Club and he can pass on the relevant details.

Click here to read more about the Williams boys and the Silent Auction

Click here for the Tweed Daily News story on the Williams family

Click here for Bid information, rules and procedures

  Hunting Dreaming by Jeannie Jacky, Acrylic on Canvas

  Low Tide High Tide by Leweena Williams, Acrylic on Canvas

   Campsite by Leweena Williams, Acrylic on Canvas

  Unknown Title by Perry Thompson, Acrylic on Canvas

  Kangaroo Journey by Robert Appo, Ceramic Pot

Positive impacts on our environment

Our Club has for some time sought to lessen our impact on the environment (ie our carbon footprint).

Cutting back the power use

Back in the late 1990's our Club won an SEDA (Sustainable Environment Development Authority) award for our outstanding reduction in harmful greenhouse gas.  The actions that achieved this was a clubwide switch to energy efficient lighting.

Further savings in electricity use has come from the installation of a BMS (Building Management System) that automatically controls our air conditioning plant.  The BMS regulates the timing and location of where our cool air goes to ensure we maintain a comfortable temperature inside but also minimise the running time of our plant and equipment.

A management review of our airconditioning use has seen our electricity use drop by 10% in 2008.

Saving Every Drop

In 2004 the Club (club general and greens) used nearly 12.5 million litres of water.  In 2008 this number had dropped to 6.6 million, a 46% or 5.9 million reduction.

Part of this success relates to our Community Water Grant.  We received approx $50,000 from the Federal Government Water Grants and the major works included installing 3 additional water tanks to harvest rain water to then irrigate our bowling greens and to convert our bathroom urinals to waterless.

Since commencing our Water Grant projects 16 months ago, we have saved over 2 million litres of water.  To put this into perspective that amount of water would fill 44 standard backyard pools!  Click here to read more about our Community Water Grant.

Christmas Day Celebration Lunch

Each year local Churches combine to provide a hot Christmas Lunch for those less fortunate on the Tweed.  STS has supported this for many years with donations of roast vegies, leg hams and cash support.  Sadly the numbers are growing with over 500 people assisted last year.

We donate 500 serves of roast vegies and a cash donation to assist.

Kids in need

The staff team collected it's 5th win as best Club/Pub team at the annual Kids in Need Dragon Boat festival in December 2007.  Even better, they enjoyed presenting another $1,000 donation.

The community development and support expenditure scheme (CDSE)

The Community Development and Support Expenditure (CDSE) Scheme is designed to ensure that larger registered clubs in NSW contribute to the provision of front-line services to their local communities; and to ensure that the disadvantaged in the community are better positioned to benefit from the substantial contributions made by those clubs.

The Gaming Machine Tax Act 2001 outlines the legislative arrangements for the granting of a rebate of gaming machine tax levied on registered clubs. Under the Act, a tax rebate is made available to registered clubs of up to 1.5% of their gaming machine profits over $1 million provided that the Liquor Administration Board (LAB) is satisfied that an equivalent amount has been applied to expenditure on community development and support.

The Act authorises the Minister to publish guidelines that determine what constitutes the application of profits for CDSE purposes.

In these guidelines, the gaming machine tax rebate of 1.5% of gaming machine profits over $1 million is referred to as the CDSE liability.

In the Act, a distinction is made between two classes of expenditure:

Category 1: Expenditure on specific community welfare and social services, community development, community health services and employment assistance activities

Category 2: Expenditure on other community development and support services.

To qualify for the gaming machine tax rebate of 1.5%, clubs must contribute at least 50% of those funds to Category 1 purposes, with the remainder allocated to Category 2 purposes.

Category 1 expenditure in excess of 50% may be used to cover shortfalls in Category 2, but the reverse does not apply.

As a general rule, it is important that funding preference is not given to projects or services that can be readily assisted by an existing Government funding program.

Click here for more information on the CDSE scheme

Click here to download the Category 1 application form