NEW HOME FOR VETERANS
Family-friendly hub for returned servicemen and women to open
FOR just under a century, the Toowoomba United RSL Sub Branch has been operating out of the Toowoomba Soldiers Memorial Hall on the corner of Herries and Ruthven Sts. But as the heritage-listed building undergoes a $4.24 million makeover, the sub branch has seen an opportunity to try something that’s never been done before. It’s a bold move, but if successful, the idea could be replicated across Queensland.
LOOKING for a new home while the Toowoomba Soldiers Memorial Hall undergoes a $4.24 million upgrade, the Toowoomba United RSL Sub Branch has thought outside the box.
Rather than relocating to a shared community hall and doing the same thing they’ve always done, the sub branch has signed a lease and is setting up a veteran’s hub in a home on Hume St in Kearneys Spring.
The hub will turn the traditional idea of RSL welfare services on its head – a move that president Roland Thompson and vice president Scott May hope will provoke more interest in the sub branch from younger veterans.
“The RSL has spent the last 100 years down in the Soldiers Memorial Hall, and just through the circumstances we’re in, we’ve got the opportunity to reinvigorate and revitalise the sub branch and basically try something that’s never really been tried in Queensland before, or in Australia,” Mr May said.
The pair said the hub would operate as a community space run by veterans for veterans, and it would be family-friendly.
“So instead of having a hall that provides welfare in a very one-dimensional way, the house gives us the ability where if someone comes in and says I want to do leatherwork, I want to do crafting, I want to do gardening, I want to work on the project cars out the back, they can,” Mr May said.
“If in 12 months it flourishes, we’ve got evidencebased research and we can then go back to RSL Qld and say – hey, this works - and potentially use it as a platform.”
Mr Thompson said it was important to note that the new veteran’s hub would not impact on the RSL’s existing welfare activities. such as hospital visits and the like.
The sub branch is hosting a working bee to get things moved into the new hub on Monday and Wednesday.
If you’re interested in helping out contact Mr May on 0401 793 560.
The sub branch is also looking for green thumbs to help spruce up the garden in time for Carnival of Flowers.
The Soliders Memorial Hall upgrade was made possible thanks to funding from the Federal Government and Toowoomba Regional Council.
TRC is also assisting with the veteran hub’s rent.