General News
1 July, 2020
Malanda RSL looking for saviour
Malanda RSL is looking for a saviour to help keep the club operating.
Malanda RSL is looking for a saviour
After several months of ‘Sorry we are closed’ on Friday, June 19 the Malanda RSL got to say “come on in we are open” for the first time in several months.
Even though COVID restrictions limited the numbers, many locals were still keen to drop in, say hello, have a chat and a drink or two at the RSL.
Friday night they opened for a just a few short hours to see what the turnout and support would be like.
The club has been struggling for several years, financially it has been breaking even and staff at the club are members and volunteers.
18 months ago the club went to the public to ask for financial assistance to keep the doors open with some success.
On Tuesday night June 23 the board and members held a meeting to discuss the financial viability of the club and came to the conclusion that they needed a professional or a corporation running the club.
Club president Darryl Cummings said that “These days with COVID it hasn’t been financially viable for us to hire a manager so financially it may be better to lease the premises rather than employ someone.”
“We are now looking to see if someone would pay us to lease the whole club.”
Former real estate agent and current club member John Lilley has taken on the task of either leasing or selling the club.
“At the meeting, we have come to the conclusion that our business model is not working and we have elected to find someone to lease the club off us or buy the building off us,” he said
“We realise that once it does go into private hands it would be up to the owner to decide what to do with the club.
“But before we could sign off on paperwork we would need to go to the members and get majority approval.”
Due to COVID restrictions, the club will now be open Monday to Thursday from 3pm – 6pm and on Friday nights from 3pm to 7pm.
“We are not opening on Saturday nights at the moment, we are just testing the market.” Mr Lilley said.
“We are looking for a white knight or a rich benefactor that wants to invest back into the community.”
For more information on leasing the club call John Lilley 0428 965 446
