Bank grant to preserve history

By Lachlan Ellis

A local Community Bank Branch has recently provided thousands of dollars towards preserving local history, and has been thanked for its ongoing support.

The Bacchus Marsh Community Bank Branch gave the Bacchus Marsh & District Historical Society (BMDHS) a $3,500 grant last week, which BMDHS President Barb McMillan said was vital in preserving historical items.

“The $3,500 grant money we recently received from the Community Bank Bacchus Marsh will be used to further enhance our cataloguing project by allowing us to purchase a high-quality digital camera, tripod, and an extension arm, to enable us to take archive quality photos of collection items. We also need to buy archive boxes and specially graded bags for storage of old newspapers and other documents. The [Bacchus Marsh] Express newspapers we have date back to 1866 and need to be stored correctly, as some are in a delicate condition,” she told the Moorabool News.

“The support we have received from the Community Bank over the years has been invaluable. It has allowed us to purchase up to date computer equipment, high-resolution scanners, and other items to make our job of cataloguing the items so much easier.”

The Community Bank also provided $7,000 to BMDHS in 2020, which allowed for the digitisation of all Bacchus Marsh Express newspapers from 1866 to 1954 – allowing anyone in the world access on the National Library of Australia’s Trove website.

Ms McMillan said the Community Bank’s support was integral not to just BMDHS’ work, but the work of other groups across Bacchus Marsh & District.

“We have a great partnership with the Community Bank in Bacchus Marsh, and they have always been very supportive of us. And of course, we really appreciate the support they give to not only us, but to all the other local community groups,” Ms McMillan said.