It is with great pleasure I report on the activities of Taverners Australia this year.
Unfortunately, the covid pandemic again caused havoc within the Taverners branches and the community. Branches struggled to hold events and it was hard to stay in touch with each other with travel all but eliminated. We look forward in the upcoming year to returning to a more normal range of activities.
Our Patron, His Excellency General The Hon David Hurley ac dsc (Retd) continued the active support of The Taverners, commenced by his predecessor Sir Peter Cosgrove. We thank the Governor for his support and active participation of The Taverners and we look forward to welcoming him to future events. The Governor did attend the Taverners ACT branch dinner during the cricket season.
The Tavs Foundation is now in its third year and is having considerable success as a tier 1 charity. It is clear the work the Taverners do and the ability to provide a tax-deductable receipt for donations over $2 do have the attention of our followers and supporters.
We signed a new two-year agreement with Cricket Australia (CA), naming The Taverners Australia as cricket’s official community partner. The partnership is actioned through “The Sporting Chance Fund” with the aim of raising significant funding to grow programs and initiatives focused on the engagement of girls and women; multicultural communities; indigenous Australians and people with a disability. We thank Cricket Australia for their continued support and assistance as we grow the awareness of the fund and continue to raise funds. I thank Cricket Australia for their support and in particular Chairman Earl Eddings. James Allsopp has now moved into the position of Executive General manager Community Cricket and is proving very supportive of our work.
The Taverners was again granted permission to raise funds at The Adelaide Test in late 2020. The covid pandemic caused severe disruption to our plans but we managed to raise some funds and enhanced our visibility through some ground signage. We sincerely thank Cricket Australia who supports our work and raising funds to inject back into the community. The work of Adam Cassidy, Aaron Dragwidge and now Rana Hussain is really appreciated, and I thank them for their guidance, support, and friendship.
The annual conference was held by zoom in February and enabled the state and territory chairs to catch up with each other and discuss current issues. It is hoped we will be able to move on from zoom meetings very soon and meet to face.
Adam Gilchrist as our Ambassador has also worked tirelessly supporting many events and giving generously of his time throughout the year. We thank Adam for this support which has been well above that which he promised.
The NCIC Carnival was again held in Geelong and the Taverners supported with a donation of $100,000, lifting our total support to $340,000 over the last four years.
Australia-wide, we supported over 72 groups during the year and donated over $400,000. Our support to grassroots blind, deaf, intellectually impaired, indigenous, and young women provide opportunities and support that is greatly appreciated by them.
The Taverners have donated in excess of $10.4 million dollars to the community over the past 16 years to give a sporting chance to those we support.
We received substantial support from The Parncutt Family Foundation, Kookaburra, Perks Accountants, Minter Ellison, Morgan Foundation, Harvey Norman stores and Coles supermarkets. Many individuals also supported us through generous donations, and I thank them for this support.
The annual raffle raised almost $90,000 and this takes the total proceeds well past $1.1 million dollars. We also completed the sale of 500 dozen cases of McLaren Vale shiraz making $25,000 for Taverner branches. Our thanks to Geoff Merrill for his support and guidance to make this happen.
I would like to thank Paul Sheahan, our President, Michael Martin our Secretary / Treasurer, and Sunny Drury, National Marketing Manager for the significant support and time they have afforded me this year, as we build to a very significant position of strength and grow our brand around Australia. We do not pay staff and the considerable hours donated by these gentlemen is substantial.
To all members of The Taverners around Australia, and in particular, the Chairs, Presidents and Committee members of all branches, I thank you for the sustained support and commitment you show as volunteers, to this great organisation and to me as National Chairman.
I invite everyone interested in cricket to get on board and join us on this exciting journey as we continue giving a sporting chance. The Taverners is committed to this vision and determined to do more to assist in future years.
John Jeffreys
Chairman
15 September 2021
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