Great Southern Academy of Sport athletes raise funds by winning bid to deliver 20,000 business directories

Some of the region’s best young athletes have been delivering the annual Albany Chamber of Commerce and Industry directories to raise money for the Great Southern Academy of Sport. Looking for an innovative way to raise cash for her organisation, GSAS executive officer Danielle Carne put in a bid to deliver the 20,000 directories, which need to be dispatched to businesses and residential addresses all around the Great Southern. Helping with a delivery blitz in Albany city centre on Tuesday were netballer Keely Berry, basketballers Imogen Ireland and Ava Marmion, hurdler Zoe Bascombe, sailor Henri Bellanger and mountain biker Abbey O’Donnell. They managed to deliver around 1000 copies to businesses around town in a four-hour stint. Ms Carne said taking on the task was a way of raising money for GSAS and of asking athletes to give something back to an organisation which assists local sporting stars with scholarships to help cover coaching, travel, physiotherapy and competition entry fees. “We want to expand and add services to the Academy, but it has been hard to find external sources of funding,” she said. “We get government grants, and we have two gold sponsors in South Coast Sports Medicine and Advanced Family and Sports Podiatry, but it has been really tricky to find other income. “Grant money is usually tied to certain expenses, so this is a way of raising revenue outside that. “I put in a bid when the ACCI was asking around and we won.” Ms O’Donnell said she had enjoyed her spell as a post-person. “It was an amazing opportunity for us to get out into the community and show our faces,” she said. “We were walking around in our GSAS uniforms making ourselves known to lots of the small businesses in the centre of town. “We were more than happy to help out an organisation which does so much for us.” ACCI chief executive Tracey Bridges said partnering with the academy ensured funds went back into the local community. “Partnering with local sporting groups and community associations is an important strategic focus for the Albany chamber,” she said. “The funds invested in this distribution go directly back into the local community, supporting local clubs and families.”