AFTER a tough year, staff at St Catherine's have received a thank you gift that will also be of benefit to Bathurst businesses.
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St Catherine's has bought 200 Buy Local gift cards and is giving one each to 180 staff members (and some others who do work at the residential aged care facility) in the lead-up to Christmas.
The gift cards, which can be bought from a number of businesses around the city, are "loaded" with money, which can then be spent at local participating stores.
"We wanted to support the local community because they support us, including with our fetes and donating items for our raffles," St Catherine's residential manager Angela Stocks said.
"We want to give back to the community because they give to us.
"Even our service people prioritise us and the residents who live here; if we have an outage or something like that, they make sure they're here quickly."
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Ms Stocks said the staff had shown their dedication during the various COVID challenges of 2021.
"They have worked above and beyond. They are amazing people and we wanted to acknowledge that.
"People have worked double shifts and have covered other shifts if someone hasn't been able to come to work because they've got a sniffle or they have had a [COVID] contact or something like that. They are very loyal and very committed staff."
Bathurst Regional Council business development officer David Flude said the Buy Local gift card program has been running since April 2015 and is now less than $8000 away from having a total of $1 million loaded on the cards in that time.
"So far this month, $41,500 has been loaded," he said.
This month, anyone who buys one of the cards from the 11 load-up stores around town can enter a competition to win four $250 gift vouchers, he said.
The vouchers will be drawn this Thursday, December 23.
"That is sponsored by Bathurst Regional Council, Bathurst Business Chamber and the RSL," he said.
Mr Flude said the Buy Local gift card program is open to any small business in Bathurst.
"There is no cost to be part of the program," he said. "Council meets all the running costs of the program.
"Go to the Bathurst Business Hub website and get all the details to register and be part of the cards. It's a simple process."
