From humble beginnings to $730,000 in giving

Woombye Community Bank Chair Stephen Marshall addresses the Giving back to Woombye evening at Nambour Cinema & Events Centre last week. 

When Stephen Marshall joined the board of Woombye Community Bank in 2016, the locally owned branch had already weathered years of hard work and sacrifice. Today, he says, the results speak for themselves.

Addressing guests at the Giving Back to Woombye evening, Mr Marshall reflected on the bank’s long journey from its inception in 2004 to its opening in March 2009, just as Australia was emerging from the Global Financial Crisis.

“The board members spent countless hours doing their best to balance the books,” he said. “Shareholders saw no return for years, but they stayed the course. Even in the tough times, the bank was investing in the community.”

After years of patient growth, the bank declared its first dividend in 2017, and has since channelled more than $730,000 into local projects, sponsorships, and scholarships.

“That’s an extraordinary achievement for a small community like ours,” Mr Marshall said. “But for these banks to continue to support their communities, they need their communities to support them.”

He also detailed recent initiatives, including the installation of four new defibrillators around Woombye and free first aid courses provided through a local partnership.

Mr Marshall acknowledged the early volunteers and founding directors who helped bring the bank to life, and the community members who continue to back it. “Woombye has a proud history of people working together,” he said. “That’s what community banking is all about ... local people taking ownership of their future.

“Community Bank Woombye owes everything to the Bendigo Bank community bank model, which originated in 1998 as a response to major banks’ closures in regional and city areas. The model empowers communities to own and operate their own branches in partnership with Bendigo Bank, who supply all the banking infrastructure and also the expertise. Community shareholders operate the local companies for each of these community banks around Australia. Today there are over 300 community owned branches across Australia each with the goal of supporting the prosperity and sustainability of their communities.”