Stand-alone BNS balls under threat

Those who use the event to connect with people from farming communities have been left heartbroken by the decision, with many fearing that BNS balls may be dying out.

ECBC secretary Hollie Hildebrandt said event organisers were told companies would not insure stand-alone BNS events, but would only insure BNS events that were incorporated within the umbrella of other companies.

“We were unable to obtain insurance, at any cost, from any underwriters, because we are a stand-alone BNS,” Ms Hildebrandt said.

“A lot of people thought we didn’t have the funds to obtain the insurance because insurance has gone through the roof, but that’s not true, funds aren’t an issue for us.

“We just couldn’t even get one quote.”

In years gone by, the ball has had anywhere between 1400 and 2200 people attend from across the country.

Ms Hildebrandt said the decision to cancel was not just going to impact the attendees but it would ripple throughout the whole community.

For the 17 years the event has been held, the committee has donated more than $750,000 back into the community.

“We donate to clubs that reach out to us. We’ve put a lot of money into the Elmore Football and Netball Club to install lights there recently and we’ve helped Rochester and Elmore District Health service to buy mattresses and different types of equipment,” she said.

“It’s going to have an impact on small local businesses because some of them rely on our funding to get them across the line each year.

“Artists that perform at our BNS are often up and coming artists. We’ve contributed to who they are today because we got them their first big gig and now they’ve gone viral. Without our ball, those up and coming artists may not have that platform any more.”

The committee even stepped in to fund a driving program for years 10 and 11 students at Rochester Secondary School that enables them to head over to Charlton and practice driving cars for a few days.

“We’re obviously very disappointed and heartbroken that they just don’t want to touch us,” Ms Hildebrandt said.

“Our argument is that a BNS ball is no different to a music festival except that they will insure a music festival.

“At any event, there is always going to be the small minority who try to get up to mischief but, just as any committee, we do everything we can to create a safe environment at a safe venue and we have protocols in place such as on-site security at all times.”

Ms Hildebrandt said it was not as simple a fix as making everybody sign waivers before entering.

Despite this, she said they would keep fighting to keep the event alive.

“We have cancelled the event and I don’t think it will run on the March long weekend as it usually does, but there could be a chance that if we can obtain insurance we might able to run something at a later date this year,” Ms Hildebrandt said.

“If it’s not this year, then we will keep trying for next year.

“We’re a close-knit committee, we’ve got more than 20 members on the committee and we’re not going to back down.

“We are going to keep going and putting in the hard yards until we can get this event back across the line.”

The Elmore Summer Send Off BNS Ball was supposed to run on March 11 and 12.

A bit of luck has already come the committee’s way. After the news broke about the cancelled event, a number of companies reached out to find out how they can help.

If you think you may also be able to assist in keeping Elmore’s Charity Ball alive, email admin@elmorecharityball.net