Stephanie Mew, President, Mallacoota Pony Club

Mallacoota Pony Club President, Stephanie Mew said that the club lost their club facilities on New Years’ Eve in 2019 during one of Australia’s most devastating fire events in Victoria’s Gippsland region.

“We lost everything – we’ve had to re-build our club with the strong support of organisations like Stramit, Fair Dinkum Sheds and Riviera Barns and Garages (our local Fair Dinkum Sheds Distributor).

“Mallacoota is a small community of about 800 people, so when a club like ours is affected like this, it hurts so many – our members range from 3 years old to those in their 60’s.

“Our new 9 metre by 9 metre shed from Stramit and Fair Dinkum Sheds means that our members will now have a clubhouse again, plus a place to store materials and equipment.

“Our club has been around for about 30 years, so we’re ecstatic that we can stay open for our members after the fires,” she said.
National Franchise and Distributor Manager Mark Cash said that the initiative was in full swing and the first sheds were now rolling off the trucks.

“We feel like we’re making a real difference to local communities, after those terrible bushfires.

“So far, we’ve committed nearly $200,000 in the value of the sheds, as well as time into engineering the sheds specifically to these sites so they meet our usual high standards and building codes.

“The sheds range in size and have been dispatched from Stramit’s Knoxfield (VIC), Queanbeyan
(NSW), Erskine Park (NSW) and Coffs Harbour (NSW) branches.

“We haven’t done this alone – we’d like to personally thank our project partners Bluescope®, Selection Steel®, Larnec Doors, Bremeck, Stoddarts, freight partners JWL and local FDS distributors for their valued support,” he said.

The initiative is part of Stramit’s Communities First initiative, which has involved a raft of fundraising initiatives including staff leave arrangements to support personal volunteering efforts and a new 1% levy so customers could contribute funds to the Red Cross National Bushfire Appeal.