Echuca Moama Apex Club former president Leon Moon (left) and current president Clint Flanigan. Photos: File and supplied
Echuca-Moama is a thriving community that is only growing. One of the many reasons people love the region is the multitude of groups they can be a part of. To help you find the right group, check out our ‘Why not join ...’ series each week, where we focus on a community group.
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A few years ago, Clint Flanigan reluctantly headed to an Apex Club meeting, not looking for any new friendships. Now, he’s the president of the club.
Echuca Moama Apex Club is a service-based organisation for men aged between 18 and 45, focused on volunteering and socialisation.
It provides a range of support across the community, including to other organisations, schools and through running the Apex Hall.
Since joining the club, now-president Clint Flanigan has been unable to stay away.
“I had no concept of what Apex was until I went along,” he said.
“My brother-in-law took me along, and I said to my wife that night, ‘I don’t need any more friends, I’m pretty happy with my friends, not interested’.
“Now, I battle to pull myself away from it.”
Mr Flanigan believes that Apex is a true not-for-profit service club, with any cash raised through fundraisers donated straight back into the community.
Echuca Moama Apex Club members often show off their catering skills, providing hospitality around the region.
The environment provided by the club also supports the growth of new skills.
Rather than accountants working as treasurers and personal assistants as secretaries, all members are encouraged to step outside their comfort zone to work in areas that they would not otherwise.
“It pushes people in a non-threatening environment to develop other roles they wouldn’t normally have even anticipated,” Mr Flanigan said.
“We’ve got one person ... he’s been on his hands and tools for years and years, and he’ll hopefully move into our treasurer role.
“For him, he’s like, ‘wow, this is great. In my (work) role, for me to move forward I need to be involved in budgeting, financial stuff, this is going to be a useful place for me to develop my skills’.”
Examples of the service work provided by the club include hosting breakfasts at Mathoura Public School, providing repairs at Echuca Historical Society, building a swing at Twin Rivers Specialist School and installing planter boxes at Crossenvale Community House.
The club also works with Echuca Regional Health Complex Care, providing unique support to patients and their families.
“You may have a patient who has just had a stroke,” Mr Flanigan said.
“Husband and wife at home, family is in Melbourne, everything has happened in a blur.
“They just need their gardening done, poisoning done, mowing done. A handout in that short time.
“Most of us are able-bodied persons, still fairly young, so that manual labour is not an issue. We can provide that element ... it’s a one-off, to help you get off your feet.”
The freshly renovated Apex Hall on Leichardt St, complete with brand-new flooring.
The Apex Hall is an important resource to the group, which maintains the space and leases it out for a low-cost for events, community meetings and to other organisations.
Members were able to recently renovate the hall through funding from Moama Bowling Club.
This space also hosts the Apex Club’s bi-monthly meetings, held on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month at 7.30pm.
Mr Flanigan feels the social support the Apex Club provides makes it a great place to go for people new to town.
“Even businesses could consider some of their employees,” he said.
“All of a sudden, they’re not going home after they’ve finished the day going, ‘jeez, I miss my friends in town’.
“They’ve moved to this new town, and they’re engaged doing these other types of activities ... it makes them much stickier to the area.”
