Giving country halls a new lease on life

Rowena's Vanessa Radford is thrilled to see the local hall restored, and remain the heart of the community.

The lifeblood of our rural communities, country halls are etched in folklore as a place to gather and connect, yet today many are falling into disrepair, a remnant of their heady heyday.

However, help is at hand, with Rabobank injecting much needed funds into these beloved institutions through its Rural Community Hub Program.

Now in its second year, the program provides 10 successful applicants with $10,000 each towards improvements to their local rural hall or community hub.

Funded by the Rabo Community Fund, which invests in initiatives designed to support the vitality of rural and regional communities, this year’s program is now open, with rural communities across Australia welcome to apply.

In North West NSW, the Rowena community hall has been given a new lease on life, having received funding for reverse-cycle air conditioning in last year’s inaugural Rural Community Hub Program.

And with the hall previously condemned for four years, the funding kick-started a full community and local Council campaign to restore the well-loved building.

Vanessa Radford, a local farmer and member of the Rowena Community Association, explains that the Rowena Hall is enjoyed by all, from the elderly through to toddlers, for ANZAC day services, school concerts and presentations, CWA Christmas trees, and even a local wedding.

“It was a very hard four years considering our community uses the hall for so many functions.”

“It had never had air conditioning except for one small room, and thanks to Rabobank’s Rural Community Hub Program there is now reverse cycle throughout, which makes it a lot more comfortable for everyone – as you can imagine it can get quite hot here in summer.”

The Rowena Hall is the lifeblood of the small north west NSW community.

Vanessa described the hall as the “heart of the community” and was grateful to Rabobank for helping restore the hall, and rejuvenate the community.

“It’s so important, everyone needs somewhere to go and it can hold so many events, I look back on all my beautiful memories that we’ve had at the hall here during my time at Rowena, and I think back on the four years that it wasn’t used – it left a huge hole in the community.”

In the past 12 months Walgett Shire Council has restored the foundations of the building and repaired damaged infrastructure, and the building is once again open to the community.

“Recently we had our annual Rowena Cracker Night on the grounds, it attracted hundreds of visitors from across the North West and has become such a great event for our town,” Vanessa explains.

“Yet, similar to many rural communities, our population is getting smaller, and this year there were only a few families volunteering their time to organise such a significant event, so we’re always very grateful for any additional help we can get, and Rabobank is always generous in its support, which includes funding our hall, and sponsoring our cracker night.”

Rabobank’s Community Engagement Manager, Skye Ward – herself an active member of the Bungendore community – is thrilled to have the opportunity to give back to communities through the Rabo Community Fund and Rabo Client Councils.

“Our Rural Community Hub Program is one of our most rewarding programs,” Skye says.

“As everyone knows, country halls are such important meeting places but so often they need a lick of paint or a new kitchen, there’s a lot of repairs and maintenance needed to upkeep this critical community infrastructure, so the idea of this grant is to provide much needed funds to ensure these community halls remain the hub of their community, and that they’re accessible and that they’re utilised.”

Rabobank Community Engagement Manager, Skye Ward is proud to be supporting communities through the Rabo Client Council and Rabo Community Fund.

Rabo Community Fund and Rabo Client Council contributing to strong communities

A cooperative bank founded by farmers, for farmers, Rabobank invests in the communities in which our clients live – and as an agricultural bank, the majority of our clients are in rural Australia, Skye explains.

“This is done through the Rabo Community Fund, which supports national initiatives such as Boys to the Bush, Heart of Australia, Wheen Bee Foundation, Fat Farmers, as well as Financial Skills and Succession Planning workshops delivered nationally.

In conjunction, the Rabo Client Councils help make an impact at a local level.

“We have groups of clients who form our Rabo Client Councils,” Skye explains. “There are five Client Councils across Australia, each with eight to 12 members, and they come together to discuss the needs in their communities and how we as a bank can support these needs.”

“Our Rabo Client Councils review the Rabobank Community Fund applications for their respective states and regions, as they are best-placed to understand the needs of the local communities.”

Country Halls are important gathering places across rural Australia. 

“The model works because we’re not going in and saying ‘you need this, and you need that’ – we’re being guided by those that live in the community in supporting authentic, grassroots initiatives for which there is a real need and that may not have a chance to get up and running otherwise.”

“This is exemplified by our Rural Community Hub Program, our Client Councils identified the need, and now it’s so heartwarming to be able to support so many halls and community centres across Australia, I just wish we could support them all!”

Off the back of the success of last year’s program, the 2026 Rabobank Community Hub Program will be open for applications until August 30, and is open to rural communities across Australia.