THE first year of static collection points in Bathurst has exceeded volunteers’ expectations for the annual Red Shield Appeal.
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Kevin Howard, a volunteer of the Bathurst branch of the Salvation Army, said around $5000 had been raised in the first three days of collection.
An official count will be conducted on Monday, but Mr Howard said he expected another $1000 to have been raised on Sunday, the final day of the major collection.
Traditionally, Salvation Army volunteers visit houses across the city over the last weekend in May for the appeal, knocking on doors to collect donations.
In Bathurst, that method hasn’t been very effective in recent years, prompting the local branch to come up with a fresh approach for their collection.
Instead of knocking on doors, volunteers manned tables in the three major shopping centres from Thursday through to Sunday and held a barbecue at Bunnings Warehouse to raise money.
Mr Howard said the people who donated across the four days responded positively to the new method.
“A lot of people have said they much prefer to have us in shopping centres than knocking on doors,” he said.
“We’ll take that on board for next year.”
He added that a lot of charities and companies door-knock to appeal for money or sign people up for a service, which can make people uncomfortable.
The static collection points allow people to donate in a safe, public space when it is convenient for them.
“I think that is a sign of the times,” Mr Howard said.
He said people were very generous with their donations, with $1400 in notes alone collected on Saturday.
“It’s exceeded what I thought. They have been very generous,” he said.
An updated fundraising figure will be available on Monday, but the final total won’t be known for some time as donations continue to roll in.
This includes money that was raised by the Lions Club of Bathurst at the monthly Farmers Markets.
