New bus helps vets keep rolling

VETERANS gathered at the Ballarat RSL last week to celebrate the handover of a twelve-seater bus.

The new vehicle has been funded with a $30,000 grant from RSL Victoria, $20,000 from Veteran Affairs and $13,000 from the Midlands Golf Club.

The bus will be used to help transport veterans to and from events.

“Just before COVID hit we were in a situation where we found ourselves trying to move our veterans around and we had no way to do it, so we decided to put in for a grant,” said RSL Ballarat compensation advocate Phil Carter.

“The whole idea is that this bus is for veteran groups and to bring them to the RSL and take them on trips as required.

“It will also be used as a courtesy bus on Friday and Saturday to bring people to the RSL so they can have a bit of entertainment if they don’t have transport.”

At the event a model of the warship HMAS Ballarat II was also unveiled at the Invermay Park based RSL club, accompanying the model of HMAS Ballarat I which was already on display.

Mark Karlovic, who served on the ship, donated the piece to the League’s collection.

“We had quite a bit of HMAS Ballarat I history, but it had to be left at the George Hotel when we moved because we didn’t have any room,” said Mr Carter.

“About 12 months ago I decided we needed to get this moved because it was a lot of historical items which needed to be preserved.

“HMAS Ballarat II was commissioned a couple of years ago, so now with his model we have both models of both ships in the RSL.”