Vol. 28 No. 50
A FREE PUBLICATION FROM YOUR LOCAL RADIO STATIONS 3WM AND MIXXFM
JAILBREAK FUNDRAISER
40th
PICTURES, STORY, PAGE 19
Wednesday, June 24, 2026
JAIL BREAK FOR CHARITY: Stawell Warriors president Shane Field is among volunteers committing themselves to a short stint at Ararat’s J Ward on Saturday – his self-confessed crime ‘for playing football at such an old age’. Volunteers will be locked in cells until they reach individual fundraising targets for youth charity Cottage by the Sea. Story, page 3. Picture: PAUL CARRACHER
Support for survival T
BY LAUREN HENRY
he future of West Vic Business will be decided at next month’s annual general meeting, with volunteers needed to drive a new direction for the group.
Ambassador Stacey Taig is stepping down from her paid role, with West Vic Business unable to secure funding for the part-time position. Dissolution of the group was discussed at a West Vic Business meeting earlier this month, but the executive decided to allow more time for others to express an interest in managing the group, and to change its model to a volunteer-led structure. The group has brought forward the date of its AGM where executive
members will vote on a way forward. West Vic Business chairperson Mark Clyne said financial and membership constraints forced the group to look at changing the model. “As an executive, we’ve got to make a financial decision,” he said. “Do we go down a different path – do we have it as a volunteer-based model where some key executive can give some time or answer questions or what have you, or do we need to scale it back a little bit? “During the COVID-19 era, we were funded to service the Wimmera, as opposed to just Horsham, so we had to expand to be able to take care of that – all those grants have changed. The whole economy has changed.” Mr Clyne said he had been chairper-
son for more than four years – when he was supposed to serve only a twoyear term. “If we don’t get some executive or some people to actually join the group and step up to be on the executive level and willing to share the load, we’re unfortunately not going to have enough people to run the group,” he said. “The general public in our region as a whole don’t understand that our population is getting older. Our population is in decline. We’ve got less people who are able to fill spots. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s the Lions Club or our group or footy clubs. There’s physically less people of that age willing to take on those roles, and they’re busier.”
The group has been in existence for about 20 years, but Mr Clyne said the business landscape and funding opportunities had changed in recent years. “This also highlights to groups like council or Regional Development Victoria that if there’s not any potential funding available, these groups are going to disappear, so if you rely on them for advocacy or council historically has relied on the group to give input and feedback as to what’s happening in the business community, well that option won’t be there,” he said. “So they’ll have to find it, or source it, or spend money, or engage a consultant, which will cost them a lot more than being able to engage with a local group.”
Mr Clyne said sourcing information from the internet meant many businesses did not need to access West Vic Business services, and cost-of-living had impacted membership numbers. “We rely heavily on memberships. There’s only so many businesses within the region we can draw upon and not everyone is a member,” he said. Mr Clyne said the group might need to look at offering business breakfasts and networking nights to deliver value back to its members. He said there was plenty of opportunities for businesses in the region, with several large-scale operations set to open, making the role of a business group even more important. Continued page 3
IN THIS ISSUE • Freight facility proposed for Murtoa • Monthly AgLife • Historic win for Horsham Heat men Phone: 03 5382 1351 Read it online: www.theweeklyadvertiser.com.au
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