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RSA manager Adrian Martin (left) and club president Frank Coggan are spearheading the rejunvenation of the club.
The Silverdale & District RSA, in Vipond Road, is changing its name as it enters a new era in its history, one that it hopes will be marked by financial stability and wider appeal.More than 230 members attended the annual meeting on September 27 and the majority voted to rename the club the Hibiscus Coast Community RSA.
Manager Adrian Martin says there will be no change to the organisation’s core values of respect for servicemen and ‘people helping people’, but the club is on the path towards being much more community and family focused.
“The rigid rules around membership are gone,” he says.
“We have a fantastic facility in the heart of the Hibiscus Coast and what we want to do is to encourage our community to use it.”
The facilities include a sports area for darts, snooker and pool, with a big screen television, gaming room and TAB.
The entertainment area caters for live shows, as well as salsa, line-dancing and ballroom dancing classes, and a restaurant and an events centre that can accommodate up to 390 people.
There are also bowling greens and a clubhouse, which can be hired independently. Associated groups include the King’s Empire Veterans, Women’s Section, and fishing and golf clubs. A welfare section and padre are involved in hospital visits and transport, and welfare issues.
“We have a lot to offer and members have access to it all,” Adrian says.
Late last year, the club was on the verge of collapse with falling membership and a stack of unpaid bills.
Frank Coggan was elected president in November and with the help of treasurer Mark Harris, has been instrumental in turning around the club’s fortunes. Adrian, who has more than 20 years experience in hospitality, both in the UK and on the Coast, joined the team in March.
Frank says they will be working very hard to change the perception that the club is just for people with a service background.
“There was a time when you had to be sponsored by an existing member and then approved, but all that has gone.
“In the past 10 weeks, we’ve had 250 new members join, mostly in the 30 to 55 year age group, and it’s bringing a lot of vitality to the club.”
As part of the new approach, membership prices have been discounted for the rest of this financial year.
The proposal to sell around two-thirds of the club’s land to Hopper Developments is not preceeding. “We pulled out of those talks recently,” Mr Coggan says.
He says any development of the RSA’s land is now an issue for the incoming committee to grapple with – the committee met for the first time this week, October 12.
The Silverdale RSA began life at a sub-branch of the Kaipara Memorial District RSA. It took the name Silverdale & Districts RSA when it moved to Stanmore Bay in 1985. The non-profit club has around 3000 members, although many are not active.
