LEGACY lodge, the home of Hamilton and District Legacy’s Portland Group, has had an upgrade with a new solar panel system with hopes to cut costs for the group.

The panels were paid for with a $5662 grant from the Federal Government, as part of a program aimed to increase energy efficiency and reduce emissions, by giving grants of between five and 12 thousand dollars to not-for-profit community groups around the country.

The panels have been installed in the last month, after applying for the grant last year on the recommendation of Member for Wannon Dan Tehan.

Now Legacy are just waiting for the final paperwork to go through before the new system is switched on, and hopefully sees their expenses go down. “

It never ceases to amaze me that the bills we get are expensive as they are, given that it’s mostly just lighting when we have meetings or functions here,” says group president Clyde Aley.

The lodge had been raking up around $300 in power bills each quarter, and with local fundraising efforts at a halt over recent years due to COVID, the group appreciates the efforts by the Government and Mr Tehan to help them cut costs.

Mr Aley and his fellow Legacy members are looking forward to a far less interrupted year than the previous two, “fingers crossed” he says.

Anzac Day is fast approaching, which is one of the group’s biggest fundraising events, though Mr Aley says they are very much working under the direction of the Hamilton Club and hoping that there will not be any more interruptions.

“Fundraising has been zero with the COVID fiasco.

“It would be wonderful to have a normal Anzac Day, it’s amazing how much you don’t appreciate normal life until things change like they have.”

After a long postponement due to restrictions the Portland Legacy group have been able to return their function for widows of servicemen to its regular scheduling.

“It’s good to be able to get that going again, it can be an important social gathering for them, especially after all this time apart from everyone.”