Greater Bank has awarded local music venue, The Rhythm Hut, with $2,000 as part of its monthly community funding program.
After being shut for five months, venue founder Rendra Freestone said the Greater Bank winnings would go straight to rent.
“The #GreaterCentralCoast funding was a massive community effort to pull together almost 30,000 votes over a month for the Rhythm Hut,” he said.
“With a big international following as well as local, we had people from all over the world getting behind us.”
Former General Manager and current volunteer, Louise Sawilejskij, said winning the funding couldn’t have come at a better time after a challenging few months.
“The effects of COVID-19 on our business have been far-reaching and having to close our venue for so long has had a massive impact on our operational costs,” she said.
“We are extremely grateful to Greater Bank for providing this opportunity and are excited to be able to start offering socially distanced live music events and music classes again.”
Greater Bank’s Central Coast Regional Sales Manager, Josh Swetnam, said he was thrilled to see this month’s major grant helping a local cultural venue continue to offer music and live events to the local community.
“We all know how difficult this year has been for so many small businesses so it’s wonderful to see the #GreaterCentralCoast providing much needed financial support to a community organisation such as The Rhythm Hut by helping them to open their doors once again,” Swetnam said.
Both runners up in the September round, Gosford Kariong Rugby Leagues Club and Disabled Surfers Association of Australia Inc. Central Coast Branch, will each receive a $500 grant to go towards their operational costs.
Businesses in next month’s round include The Entrance Amateur Swimming Club, Peninsula Lighthouse Ltd and SOCARES Animal Care Facility.
Voting for the October round will close at 5 pm on October 28.
Jacinta Counihan