Ray Fitzgerald is urging people to chip in and help sponsor a seat at the of Gloucester Showgrounds.
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The project seeks to raise funds to cover the cost of installing outdoor seating at Gloucester Showground, with sponsors paying a one-time-only fee that includes an engraved name plate on each sponsored chair, recognising the generosity of the donation.
While the seating has already been obtained, the installation process entails pouring a concrete slab to which the seats would then be bolted.
As with any project of this nature, there is an associated cost of materials to complete the job, which is where the idea of sponsoring individual seats came from.
Ray says the idea was hatched one evening during a conversation with some friends.
"They said why don't you do sponsorship like they did at the hydrotherapy pool where the whole town bought bricks to build it?" he said.
"So we worked out what a slab would cost, divided it up by how many chairs could fit on it which worked out to be about $50 a chair."
The seats had formerly been used in Sydney's Alliance Stadium, but when the previous state government decided to demolish the stadium to build a new structure, Ray saw an opportunity to recycle the seats to benefit the local showground.
"I wrote a letter to the state government saying 'it's a bloody disgrace building another big stadium when little country towns don't even have chairs for the elderly' and 'you should be ashamed of yourselves'," Ray said.
The letter, addressed to the then Minister for Regional New South Wales, John Barilaro, obviously made an impression because about six weeks later Ray received a letter from the Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground Trust informing him that there were 45,000 seats available to be collected.
Despite his initial apprehension over just how the seats could be transported, others from the community soon got on board so that 15 people with three cattle trucks made their way to Moore Park, Sydney and collected more than 1000 chairs.
I wrote a letter to the state government saying 'it's a bloody disgrace building another big stadium when little country towns don't even have chairs for the elderly' and 'you should be ashamed of yourselves'.
- Ray Fitzgerald
While some of the seats have been accepted by both the tennis and bowling clubs, there remains an abundance awaiting to be installed at the showground.
According to Ray, sponsoring a seat is an opportunity to improve an important local facility for years to come, especially those who might have mobility issues.
"It's not a one-off, it's going to stay there for years and years and it just makes it a lot more comfortable for people to sit down and have a bit of back support."
Sponsorship forms can be downloaded from the Gloucester Showground website: gloucestershow.weebly.com/
For more information email: secretary@gloucestershow.org.au or call 0461 351 728
