About the Art, Craft and Activities Group, Lavington, NSW.

The Art, Craft and Activities Group (ACAG) was formed about 30 years ago after a group of ladies met regularly to practice their various crafts in the Mirambeena Community Centre at Lavington, NSW.  The group originally started out as a social group.  

When the number of attendees grew and people were seeking guidance with their craft activities, it was soon realised the group had to change its structure.  It was receiving a reasonable income each year from attendance fees and from the successful running of annual Art & Craft Fairs.

With the larger numbers of people attending, the offer of guidance (tuition) for attendees and the income it was generating, the  the group later formed into a "Not-For-Profit" organisation that was registered with the then NSW Department of Fair Trading.  This allowed the group to pass on the profits it made each year to charities.

They received enough income during the year to be able to employ several Tutors in various fields for some of the larger classes that had formed. 

It was running smoothly with a lot of Committee members and volunteers,... Until the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

By this time, the regular members were aging, with the average being above 80 years of age.  Most of the members and volunteers either felt they were too old to continue or they had served enough years as Committee members or volunteers.  As a result, the numbers dropped off.

The final issue that rendered the group unviable was, under the now Fair Trading NSW regulations, the group had to have at least three "Executive" Committee members.  They need a President, a Treasurer, and a Secretary, plus other committee members to make an acceptable quorum.

While they received volunteers for the general committee, but despite repeated calls during the later part of 2023 and into 2024, no one was prepare to take on the Executive positions.    

This meant the group was unable to form a committee and therefore, had to de-register the group with NSW Fair Trading.

Part of the regulations governing this, required the group's assets had to be distributed (or sold) to either the members or "like-minded" organisations.

While the group didn't have a lot of actual assets, it did hold a substantial bank balance. The funds in the bank had to be transferred to another "like-minded" organisation, so the group voted on transferring the funds to the Thurgoona Community Centre, at Thurgoona.

To their credit, Albury City Council stepped in with some support by offering the classes without paid Tutors, to meet in the Mirambeena Community Centre free of charge. 

They also found some funding to support the larger classes with paid Tutors, so they could continue their classes.  This meant the Tutors would now be paid for two hours per week by Albury City Council. 

It should be noted that it is not really Albury City Council's role to support a failed (?) Not-For-Profit organisation but, my personal thoughts are, Council could see the real need for this service to continue as it provided a valuable service to Seniors and could be see as a posative service with regard to mental health.