General News
7 July, 2026
Event gives back to community
Following another successful Clunes Historic Truck show, the Historic Commercial Vehicle Club Ballarat is proud to continue giving proceeds to local charities.
Held in March, the annual event always gives back to the region by giving the money raised to a chosen local cause.
But the Historic Commercial Vehicle Club Ballarat committee’s Lorraine Hogan said they decided this year to equally split the $5000 raised to support two.
“We always make a profit, and we try to donate to worthy causes,” she said.
“Even if someone puts their hand up and says ‘I have heard of this charity, they are doing good work’ everyone gets on board.
“Everyone was wrapped. The decision to donate to these charities was carried forward unanimously.”
Following the bushfires that devastated Harcourt and surrounding communities earlier this year, $2500 will be donated to impacted residents.
However, the committee also wanted to this year support Creswick based organisation Shannons Bridge.
When the charity’s founder Jeremy McKnight lost his daughter to leukaemia in 2016, he wanted to support other families by connecting them to essential resources for those who are terminally ill and in end of life care so they can stay at home.
He said the donation will support multiple families currently going through exactly that.
“It feels great, any support we can get from local organisations is fantastic, we survive on donations,” he said.
“Everything we do is for free, and we have really been struggling with people in desperate need, as everyone knows, those with NDIS and age care plans are struggling at the moment, so it can be really hard for people to get assessed in time, and that can really draw out the process for people who need equipment today.
“We often find in the smaller towns, they are always really close-knit and Clunes is one of those.”
Shannon’s Bridge has recently been referring between five to 15 families to various support each day.
Mr McKnight said there are several ways Shannon’s Bridge has been supporting those families.
“In those moments, people find themselves asking ‘who do I have to deal with? Radiology, oncology, occupational therapy, GP?’ it can be a confusing time,” he said.
“We have a lot of volunteers who do respite and home care, Maryborough and Clunes are two of our largest areas for that. We also advocate for people, anyone going through it for the first time, there is a lot thrown at you all of a sudden.
“There are emergency relief packs supporting families that want to have their loved ones at home in those finals weeks or days, mainly for remote areas where there is extremely limited medical assistance.
“And then we also have advanced car planning, asking people what their final wishes are.”
Mr McKnight said some of the biggest components this donation will help with includes support for carers and providing essential medical equipment.
“Equipment is a huge part of what we do. We have probably handed over $5 million of equipment in the past 10 years, and that is because of people’s generosity. We work with age car facilities and hospitals and families that no longer require equipment,” he said.
“So, we have the ability to react to those situations and give things out to people who need them. The people we are trying to help out are the carers too. They are the unsung heroes doing this 24/7. If we can do anything for them, that’s a huge win.”
Greatful for the committee’s generosity, Mr McKnight said to be chosen as this year’s charity.
“There’s a lot that goes into advanced care planning, there’s things that may bring you joy and bring meaning to your life and that’s what we want to know about in those end of life care plans,” he said.
“Our goal is not get our name in lights, our goal is to help where we can. It’s the small communities that often band together that do so much for these families anyway. So if we can support them, that’s great.
“But choosing us as their charity for the year is quite an honour and something we are very greatful for.”