85-летний фанат «Эссendon» и член фонда Алана Лейна рассказывает о поддержке клуба и благотворительности

Vern Robson with the Warrnambool City Council's visitor book which King Charles signed on his visit in 1977. File picture Vern Robson is passionate about Essendon Football Club and helping people. He goes Under the Auld Pump with Tim Auld. Subscribe now for unlimited access. or signup to continue reading SAVE $119 All articles from our website & app The digital version of Today's Paper All other in your area AT A GLANCE Name: Vern Robson Age: 85 Birthplace: Ballarat Family: wife Frances; children Gary and Mark. Education: Mount Pleasant State School before going to Ballarat High School. Sporting highlight: would be barracking for Essendon. Vern, how did it come about that you barracked for Essendon? John Birt, who was born in Ballarat, went on to be a star player for Essendon. He was my first link to barracking for the Bombers. Essendon also had John Coleman, who was a champion full forward and a household name. I was hooked on the Bombers from a young age but sadly they have struggled for many years. I'm just hoping things might turn around in the future. Being a passionate Essendon fan - did you think James Hird should have taken over as the new Bombers coach, instead of Mark McVeigh? I think Hird should have been given the job. He was a great player for the club and I thought he was a good coach previously and should have been given another go at the job. Vern, you've lived in Warrnambool for more than 50 years. In that time did you play much sport? No. I never played much sport. I've got fond memories of playing baseball for the Mount Pleasant Baseball Club while growing up in Ballarat. I suppose my only claim to sporting fame in Warrnambool was playing table tennis in the local D-grade competition with Bob Barham, his son David and Ken Armstrong. We had a bit of success. The main reason why I never took part in sport was because of my job in senior managerial roles with the Warrnambool City Council. I thought it was best to distance myself from the clubs because I didn't want it said that I showed them a favour if they approached the WCC. Over the years you've been involved with philanthropic trusts. Are you still involved? Yes. I think it keeps your mind active and while you can still contribute to the community, you should do it and that's the important thing. I've been with Anglicare Victoria and the Warrnambool branch of Anglicare Victoria for 26 years. I was the original chairman of Anglicare Warrnambool, and that has grown enormously over that 26-year period. I'm still very much involved with that. It helps many of the needy people within not only Warrnambool, but Warrnambool and district. And it's been a very worthwhile program. Vern Robson at Brauerander Park in 2022. File picture "The different programs that we're involved in are very important, particularly the drop-in centre that caters every morning, Monday to Friday, for people that need a cup of coffee or a breakfast. That's provided at the drop-in centre. There are staff and volunteers on duty there each day, and there are emergency food parcels available each day for people that need an emergency food parcel. Vern, have numbers increased for people in need over the last 18 months? During the last 18 months, the numbers attending have doubled, and that's including those people that are homeless. They also have financial difficulties. I suppose it's also reflected in the other work that I'm associated with at Heatherlie Homes. Heatherlie is about to do a a new development to provide units for people, either individual people who are pensioners, or married pensioners. But the people that are on that waiting list is quite significant. The fact is a lot are pensioners, they haven't got a lot of money, and they need to have accommodation. That's a major project that once we get the planning permit, we hope we'll be able to get on with it early next year. What about the A.L. Lane Foundation? I'm involved with three major philanthropic trusts and the A.L. Lane Foundation is one of them. Alan Lane passed away nearly 30 years ago. He appointed three trustees to manage the Lane Foundation and I was one of them. The Lane foundation provides grants. People have to apply, and we meet quarterly. We cover grants for cultural, educational. We've offered quite a bit of help through the foundation with Deakin University for scholarships. I would imagine over that period more than $10 million has been distributed through the A.L. Lane Foundation for worthwhile charitable causes. There are annual grants that are made to our major charitable organisations here in Warrnambool. The likes of Salvation Army, St Vincent de Paul, Anglicare Warrnambool get an annual grant, and the St Vincent de Paul Society, they get an annual grant. There are probably about 13 or 14 local trusts and foundations that cooperate on major projects that come up, the likes of the Cancer Centre. The Lane Foundation were very generous in providing funds towards the new Cancer Centre, for the new hospital developments, both at South West Healthcare and at St John of God Healthcare. If it wasn't for the local foundations, both of those hospitals wouldn't be able to have the equipment that they get. It's been worthwhile to be able to help with these major community benefits that we wouldn't have if it wasn't for these local foundations. The other major foundation is the Vedmore Foundation and that was founded by the late Sue Henry. Vern Robson was named a life member of Heatherlie Homes in 2016. File picture She was one of the chairpersons of Anglicare Warrnambool as well - when Sue's mother passed away she established the Vedmore Foundation foundation in about 2010. In accordance with the trust deed of the Vedmore Foundation, Sue had a particular interest in Anglicare Warrnambool, the restoration of Christ Church. She was involved with the Anglican Church, and she has assisted through the foundation in the restoration of the bell tower at Christ Church, the re-roofing of Christ Church and more recently, there's further work being going on and it's associated partly with the Parish Council and with Anglicare in the upgrading of the parish hall. Another foundation you've been involved with is Peter's Project. What can you tell me about that? We celebrated 10 years since the new Cancer Centre was established just a few weeks ago, but it took us eight years of pretty hard work to get the funds to enable the Cancer Centre to go ahead. Hundreds of people have benefited by having our own regional Cancer Centre in Warrnambool. It has just been remarkable and thankfully I was able to be part of the initial committee to get the Cancer Centre established. I'm also involved with the Brauerander Park Foundation, which is associated with the regional athletics next to Brauer College. It serves the South West regional area. And that foundation has been going for around 20 years. It continues to provide good, world-class athletics facilities out at Brauerander Park. More from Court and Crime As it happens Breaking news alert Be the first to know when news breaks. Weekdays The lunch break Grab a quick bite of today's latest news from around the region and the nation. Weekdays The evening wrap Catch up on the news of the day and unwind with great reading for your evening. Daily Your morning news Today's top stories curated by our news team. Daily Subscriber Only Today's Paper Alert Your digital replica of Today's Paper. 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