WHEN it was revealed the Bathurst Winter Festival would not be going ahead in 2025, The Greens on William was quick to jump in to help.
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In a matter of days, the club had secured the ice rink for the winter school holidays and it is now working to develop a suite of other activities families can enjoy.
Manger of The Greens on William, Rebecca Mathie, said the desire to help was driven by the club's motto, which is "we are a community club for the community".
"We were disheartened that the winter festival wasn't happening for 2025. Working in the events industry, we understand how much work and preparation goes into an event like that and the hard work that the girls at Bathurst Regional Council put into that every year and how well-received it is by members of the community," she said.
"We thought it would be a real shame if we were to lose that event.
"Being a not-for-profit community organisation, we thought, 'How can we best service our community?', and I contacted [deputy mayor] Ben Fry and asked him whether or not it was possible to relocate the ice rink to The Greens and still have that ice rink available to Bathurst residents and visiting tourists to ensure that the main attraction of the winter festival was kept in Bathurst."
McDonald's Bathurst, which has been the long-term sponsor of the ice rink at the Bathurst Winter Festival, is continuing its sponsorship of the attraction.
Other sponsors are also coming forward to help The Greens put on activities over the two weeks of the school holidays.
While there will be some similarities to the Bathurst Winter Festival, they are two different events.
"We will put our own kind of spin on winter in Bathurst, because obviously we don't want to take anything away from the hard work that the girls at Bathurst Regional Council have done," Ms Mathie said.
"This is just our own event, but we are working closely with the team at Bathurst Regional Council and we're just going to put our own kind of spin on things."
The calendar of events is expected to be developed over the next month or so, and then The Greens will share with the community all the things that will be on offer.
One thing they can expect is festival night with food and market stalls, with Ms Mathie hoping to engage stallholders who have attended the winter festival before.
"It's all about ensuring that those people and businesses that would generally do well from the winter festival have the opportunity to do that even though the Bathurst Winter Festival is not going ahead," she said.
The Greens on William is looking for more sponsors, big and small, to come on board to make the event as successful as possible.
Anyone who would like to offer support can contact the club on 6331 3187.
