SSAA NSW

Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (NSW) Inc. 21 For a long time, the SSAA NSW Illawarra Branch had been hearing three comments over and over again, so they decided to change the game up. "We had been talking about buying a trailer or a coolroom for our hunters for some time, but we never managed to properly get around to it," Illawarra Branch President Chris Sainsbury said to us. "We've also heard a lot of people saying SSAA NSW and the Branches don't do anything, which we know isn't true but there's an element out there pushing this falsehood. "We also wanted to make sure our hunters were well looked after as hunting in larger population centres can sometimes take a back seat to target shooting, and we nailed all three birds with the one stone." The stone, as it were, is the Illawarra Branch's new coolroom and trailer, which cost the Branch a little over $15,000. Despite the considerable layout, however, Sainsbury thinks it is a wise investment. "We could have built one ourselves, but being able to bring enough members of our Branch together at the same time proved to be a logistical bridge too far," Sainsbury said, with almost no regret whatsoever. "While it may have taken a considerable outlay of membership funds, this is a bricks and mortar example of what our funds are going towards, to benefi t our members. "We are renting the trailer out to the wider community, not just our members, and this helps us on three fronts. "Not only do we make the money back from rental fees, but other likeminded people in the community can benefi t from our low-cost alternative to commercial coolrooms, and this then allows them to see the benefi t of being a part of SSAA NSW." With a 1400kg payload, a temperature fl oor of two degrees Celsius and a 25-litre fuel tank providing eight and a half hours of running time, the new trailer offers hunters an opportunity to preserve their harvested carcasses without needing to count the seconds until they return home. Where the Illawarra Branch was most grateful, though, was for the insurance options provided by SSAA Insurance Brokers. "They truly went above and beyond and were a great assistance to the Branch in providing a low-cost insurance option for us," Sainsbury added, with a noticeable uptick in his voice. "After doing so much work on numbers, to only have to come up with $250 for insurance was a great burden lifted on the Branch, and we can get on with hunting rather than paperwork." The arrival of the new trailer also prompted Sainsbury to encourage other Branches to pursue similar ideas as they applied in a local context. "Other Branches have the opportunity to cater to their members' needs and I hope that they invest their money wisely. "Some Branches require more ranges, while some have a need for more organised competition, but we had a need amongst our members for assistance in preserving carcasses harvested by our members, so we went out and did what our members needed us to do to help them." To rent the Illawarra Branch coolroom trailer, call Chris on 0448 120 932 or email illawarra@nsw.ssaa.org.au SSAA Illawarra Branch Coolroom

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