Bank investing in Tugun community | Gold Coast News | Local News in Gold Coast

Customer relations manager Allan Merlehan with Tess Clifford and Fredrick the frog.

Blainey Woodham

CURRUMBIN Wildlife Sanctuary critters helped the Tugun Community Bank celebrate its seventh birthday last week.

Chairman of the Community Board Allan Blenkins said the Bendigo Bank had given Tugun a bank when the community had none.

“The bank completes the fabric of Tugun’s shopping precinct and we have returned profits to the Tugun community,” Mr Blenkins said.

“The community board supports various organisations as determined by our sponsorship policy.”

Members of Tugun’s local business community and almost 300 shareholders pledged $600,000 to have the bank in their area eight years ago.

Three original committee members, including Mr Blenkins are still involved today.

Mr Blenkins said 12 months of planning had preceded the opening of the Tugun Community Bank in 2003.

He said decisions on the community bank and Tugun Progress Association’s Big Ideas Forum last October would be finalised in the coming weeks, with some of the projects considered already existing in one form or another.

“The bank will be involved in raising awareness of those services the community already has access to, and we are working on how we will do that at the moment.”

Recipients of funding include Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, Tugun Surf Lifesaving Club, Mothers Milk Bank, Careflight, Currumbin Community Farm Campus and the Surf World Surfing Museum.