A CHARITY that recently celebrated its fifth birthday is gearing up to help disadvantaged families around Christmas time. Mums Supporting Families In Need takes donations at its Seaford warehouse and distributes nursery essentials, clothing, linen, toys, toiletries and food to families across Frankston, the Mornington Peninsula and Kingston. “We’re all volunteers and we assist about 130 families every month,” Supervisor Donna Cartwright said. “I got involved when my youngest son was born and he outgrew some of his clothes four-and-a-half years ago so I thought it was a chance to do something to help,” she said. “We’re in full swing…
Author: Neil Walker
A FRANKSTON Council pledge to work to rip federal and state funding away from a $12.7 million upgrade of the Frankston Basketball Stadium has been slammed by North-West ward councillor Glenn Aitken. Cr Aitken, who represents the Seaford area where the stadium is located, said he is “astonished at any suggestion that any funds would simply be somehow automatically reallocated to other projects”. “The state and federal government made a clear balanced and commendable commitment to Frankston Council and its residents with a specific outcome in mind,” Cr Aitken said. “The only people who have the ability or choice to…
A STATUE of boxing champ Johnny Famechon will be unveiled early next year in Ballam Park to honour the Frankston resident’s sporting achievements including the world WBC featureweight championship in 1969-70. Frankston councillors last week voted to contribute $45,000 of ratepayers’ money to install a 2.1-metre high bronze statue of “Fammo” in his youthful pomp at Ballam Park. A group of boxing fans, including Gary Luscombe, have raised nearly $180,000 themselves over seven years for sculptor Stephen Glassborow to construct the statue. Mr Luscombe, who lives in the Victorian town of Cockatoo, said the fundraising at sportsman nights and selling…
FRANKSTON Council has walked away from funding any part of a proposed $12.7 million upgrade of the Frankston Basketball Stadium after months of negotiations over the signing of a new lease for the stadium. Council also vowed to have $5.2 million of federal government funding and $2.5 million of state government funding for the project reallocated elsewhere in the latest salvo of an increasingly bitter stoush with the Frankston & District Basketball Association (FDBA). Council and the FDBA have been at odds over revised lease terms amid disagreement on retractable seating being part of the initial scope of the upgrade…
KINGSTON has a new mayor after Cr Steve Staikos was elected last week by his councillor peers to the mayoralty. North ward councillor Staikos was elected unopposed last Wednesday evening (15 November) at a public council meeting. It is the second time Cr Staikos will serve a 12-month mayoral term having previously been mayor in 2010, two years after first being elected to council as a councillor in 2008. Cr Staikos succeeds Cr David Eden as mayor. “Over the next 12 months we’ll be working closely with the community to focus strongly on how to protect our local neighbourhoods from…