ANZAC Spirit: Bathurst RSL secured ANZAC Spirit award for the second time

The local RSL received the Spirit of ANZAC - Highly Commended award for 2020-2021 and chief executive officer [CEO] Peter Sargent was thrilled to receive the honour - albeit a little later than usual.

The club received the same award in 2019 following its Respect The Day campaign.

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"The award was from 2020 to 2021 because we missed an awards in that time," he said.

"We're not just an RSL club by name, we're an RSL club by everything that we do.

"Our relationship with our sub-branch is second to none and that might seem like a given but it's not, so we're really proud of that.

"The stuff that we do to support our sub-branch and work with our sub-branch is basically what saw us get highly commended again this year."

The Respect The Day campaign was an initiative by the Bathurst RSL to remind people to celebrate ANZAC Day in a respectful way.

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The campaign was then rolled out nationally by the RSL Services Club Association.

In addition to the Respect The Day campaign, the RSL was also awarded for supporting the community through donating good and funds to Veritas House and Lifeline, its association with Defence Community Dogs and the work it does for the sub-branch.

"For example, during COVID our sub-branch couldn't meet in the sub-branch office anymore for their Friday morning coffee so we moved them up into the Diggers' Bar and since we've done that it's expanded," Mr Sargent said.

"So about 35 to 40 people every Friday morning are in our Diggers' Bar having coffee together which is actually the purpose the club was established for in 1928.

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"So we think that's pretty cool, we've kept that spirit alive."

As part of the agreement the club made with the sub-branch when it purchased the premises, the RSL provides offices and accommodation rent-free to members of the sub-branch.

These spaces are used for advocacy services to provide assistance for veterans dealing with the Department of Veteran Affairs and to give any local veterans support when needed.

Mr Sargent is proud of the services they provide and the recognition they received through receiving the award.

"It's not about the awards but it certainly is nice to be recognised in the industry because we do foster such strong ties with our Returned Services League of Australia sub-branch," he said.

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