The upgrade to create a world class mountain biking park in South East Queensland which is expected to attract more visitors and inject a welcome economic boost into the region is well underway. 

The Kooralbyn Mountain Bike Club’s President Andrew Bonney said he jumped for joy when he heard their application for a grant for $10,000 to build new tracks and a skills park had been successful.

“We currently have good intermediate to expert tracks, this grant enables us to build tracks suitable for beginners so we can encourage families and groups to get active and experience the thrill of mountain biking,” said Mr Bonney.

“It will be one of the only tracks in the South East corner that covers the different disciplines of mountain biking. We’ll have cross country tracks to for endurance and steep hills to learn techniques for extreme mountain biking.”

With an onsite resort and proposed camping facilities, Mr Bonney said the facility will have the potential to host world class events and is expected to provide a welcome economic boost to the region with an increase in visitors.

“It’s a fabulous location in close proximity to Brisbane, making it ideal for day trips and overnight retreats for school and corporate groups,” said Mr Bonney.

Over 32 applications seeking funding for projects between $5,000 and $30,000 from not-for-profit groups around the state were considered for the Queensland Country Good For Good Community Grants program, with nine successful applicants sharing in over $110,000.  Chief Executive Officer Aaron Newman said his team was proud to give back to the community in a tangible way.

“There is so much good being done at a grass-roots level in our communities by dedicated and passionate volunteers, so it is great to be able to give community groups a financial boost to get their dream projects off the ground,” said Mr Newman.

“The Kooralbyn Mountain Bike Club’s track extension is particularly exciting because we’re helping them create a financially sustainable future for themselves and ongoing economic benefits to the community by attracting visitors to the region.”

This is the third year that the Queensland Country Good for Good Community Grants program has continued, and follows a long history of supporting the community through grants and sponsorships with over $2 million injected into community projects since 2005.

“This year we saw a 10% increase in the funds awarded through the Program which we were able to do because of the support our communities have shown us over the past year,” said Mr Newman.

“It’s all part of our difference as a customer owned banking organisation. Without shareholders to pay dividends to, we can invest our profits into local communities while providing the best possible products and services to our Members.”

Mr Bonney said that receiving the funding from the financial institution the Club banks with highlights the value of supporting local businesses.

 “As a Club, we bank with Queensland Country Beaudesert branch and they have always given us very personalised service and direction on the most efficient way for our committee to manage our banking,” said Mr Bonney.

“In fact, it was the Manager who told us about the Good for Good Grants program when we first opened our account.  They definitely give back to the community which is another thing that we as a Club love about banking with them.”  

An element of Good for Good involves the concept of paying it forward, with our grant recipients partnering with us to fundraise 10% of their grant amount for our charity partner, Ronald McDonald House Charities.