#community

Dec 11, 2018
2 min

Hunter hotels and The Virtual Pub join forces for inaugural toy run to help sick kids

This Saturday, 15 December, Hunter hotels will join forces with The Virtual Pub - an online men’s mental health platform - to provide kids in regional hospitals with some overdue joy this Christmas season. Virtual Pub co-founder Brendan Williams said the idea of holding a toy run with pick up points at hotels across the Hunter came as an extension of the group’s existing charitable initiatives such as ‘Beards of Hope,’ in support of pregnancy and infant loss. “We’ve successfu

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Dec 5, 2018
3 min

The George Tavern Green Hills and their winning formula for success

The George Tavern, Green Hills has proven yet again it is one of the best in the business, taking the gong for Best Traditional Hotel Bar - Country at this year's Australian Hotels Association NSW Awards for Excellence. In the past seven years, the team at The George has been the recipient of multiple industry awards, including Best Liquor Retail and Country Hotel of the Year in 2012, and Hotel Operator of the Year and Heart of the Community awards in 2016 and nationally in t

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Dec 3, 2018
3 min

Burwood Inn to remain the heart of the Merewether community

If you already love the Burwood Inn at Merewether, you're going to love it even more under the guidance of new hoteliers Tony and Sandra Dart who took over the venue just six weeks ago... With 38 years experience in the hotel industry, you could say Tony Dart knows a thing or two about running a pub. He poured his first beer at age 18 at Grafton Hotel and has since been the driving force behind seven NSW pubs including Tattersals Hotel - Greta, Oriental Hotel - Cooks Hill, Hu

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Nov 15, 2018
2 min

Hamilton hotelier steps in to support up-and-coming champion

In Newcastle you don’t have to be a local to feel the love, you just have to share the community’s passion for hard work, good ethics and strong values. Just ask Supercars driver 23-year-old Todd Hazelwood who last year took out the Dunlop Super2 Series championship in Newcastle as part of the Supercars Newcastle 500 event. This year, the Adelaide local will graduate to the top level of racing and Hamilton hotelier Stephen Hunt couldn't be prouder. “I originally met Todd fou

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Oct 9, 2018
2 min

Royal Hotel Murrurundi is providing community drought relief in a very unique way...

Over the past few months, hotels across Newcastle and the Hunter have dug deep providing more than $150,000 in support to our local farmers doing it tough in the drought.’ Hoteliers have held fundraisers, bought bales of hay, and made donations all in the name of community support. But when Upper Hunter Council was forced to weigh up the viability of opening the Murrurundi & District Memorial Pool this season, which requires 840,000 litres of water and an expected cost of $50

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Oct 8, 2018
2 min

Bay Hotel Motel is preparing to tee off for the 17th Annual Charity Golf Day later this month...

The Bay Hotel Motel is preparing to hold its 17th Bay Hotel Annual Charity Golf Day on Wednesday, 17 October at Morisset Golf Course. Having already raised an incredible $330,000 for Variety via their golf days, Bay Hotel Motel is once again looking to raise as much money as possible in support of Variety NSW and car 3801, which is actually a bus, for next year's Variety Bash NSW, an event sponsored by the Australian Hotels Association Newcastle Hunter. "Over the years we've

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Sep 26, 2018
2 min

The Lemon Grove Hotel lends a hand, Just BecCause it can...

When they first walked into the hotel in 2017, Lemon Grove hotelier Tony Dart had no idea that an unassuming teenage girl and her mother would have such an enormous impact on him. Bec Cooper was 16 when she and her mother Dana first entered the Lemon Grove Hotel, Wallsend in 2017 with a favour to ask. "Bec and her mum came in and said to me, we have heard your hotel does a lot of fundraising. Would you help us?" Tony said. "When I learned how sick she was, my first reaction w

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Aug 22, 2018
1 min

Local pubs 'Let It Pour' for drought-stricken farmers

Great Northern Brewing Co recently launched its Let It Pour fundraising campaign, an initiative which included the donation of 1000 kegs to pubs and venues across NSW, Queensland and Victoria with the aim of raising $1 million for drought-stricken farming communities. All proceeds from Let It Pour 'karma kegs' will be donated to Rotary Australia for distribution to farming communities. A number of our pubs across Newcastle and the Hunter are participating in the campaign whic

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Aug 15, 2018
3 min

AHA Newcastle Hunter honoured to once again support the Mark Hughes Magic Ball

He has been an inspiration to many, a local sporting hero undoubtedly tough on the footy field and undeniably even braver, tackling a medical condition that threatened to take his life. In 2013 Mark Hughes was told he had Grade 3 high-grade Oligoastrocytoma, which he describes as a diagnosis which meant, in non-medical terms, that he was in for the fight of his life. It took brain surgery, 33 radiation sessions and months of ongoing chemotherapy, but Mark thankfully continues

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Aug 9, 2018
4 min

Royal Federal Hotel local is going above and beyond in drought crisis

Dave Anderson , hotelier at the Royal Federal Hotel Branxton likes to think his pub is the watering hole for some of the best locals in the Hunter, and he may just be right if the efforts of patron Cameron Waters are anything to go by. On Saturday, 18 August the Royal Federal Hotel is holding a major fundraising event to support local patron Cam and his campaign to help the drought-stricken community of Coonabarabran and surrounds. In fact, before the event has even taken pla

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Aug 9, 2018
2 min

Hoteliers across the Hunter are getting behind drought appeal

The Australian Hotels Association NSW recently launched a week-long drought appeal with the aim of raising $150,000 for drought-stricken farmers, with all proceeds provided to Rural Aid/Buy A Bale. In Newcastle and the Hunter, hoteliers quickly jumped on board and we created Fork to Farm, an initiative incorporating existing meal percentage donations and direct pledges with all proceeds going toward the AHA NSW fundraising campaign. Within the first 48 hours our generous New

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Aug 7, 2018
3 min

Sunnyside Tavern and local hoteliers support little Josie and her brave fight for life

In what seems like a cruel twist of irony, local Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) leukaemia researcher Matt Dun is desperately searching for a way to cure one of the most deadliest forms of childhood brain cancer, diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma or DIPG. Known to have an average survival time from diagnosis to mortality of just eight months, and a less than one percent chance of those diagnosed to live beyond five years, the heart-wrenching occurrence of DIPG is most

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Aug 3, 2018
2 min

Australian Hotels Association providing $150,000 support from ‘Fork to Farm’

Members of the Australian Hotels Association Newcastle Hunter are joining forces with hoteliers across the state in a bid to raise more than $150,000 for struggling farmers. The Australian Hotels Association NSW today announced its members across NSW will pledge donations to farming charity Rural Aid. Local hoteliers across Newcastle and the Hunter will join the campaign via a unique and local initiative called Fork to Farm which will see hotels pledge a donation before Thurs

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Jul 25, 2018
2 min

AHA raises the stakes at Where there's a Will charity race day

A charity race day held at Scone Race Club and attended by Upper Hunter members of the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) along with AHA Director of Liquor and Policing John Green, has raised more than $11,000 for community organisation Where there's a Will, which supports local youth struggling with mental health issues. The not-for-profit organisation was established in 2016 by parents Pauline and Hilton Carrigan after their son Will took his own life at just 24 years of a

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Jul 17, 2018
2 min

Bradford Hotel at Rutherford shows its Love For Lily...

Last week, Lily Dallen was supposed to celebrate her 21st birthday surrounded by family and friends. Instead, the young Rutherford local found herself supported by more than 150 of those closest to her at an event held at The Bradford Hotel, to help raise money that will support her through one of the most challenging times of her life. In February, Lily found a small pea-size lump on her neck that, after an initial misdiagnosis, was found to be Hodgkin's lymphoma. By then t

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Jun 27, 2018
1 min

AHA proud to assist in the delivery of Sunshine Coach for special kids

Children at Newcastle Junior School were today presented with a special Sunshine Coach by Variety – the Children’s Charity. The Australian Hotels Association-Newcastle Hunter was proud to donate $10,000 toward the purchase of the 12-seater van, which will allow students to overcome barriers and reach their full potential by accessing a range of different opportunities. including community programs, life skills and sporting programs. "We are thrilled to be able to assist in pr

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Jun 12, 2018
2 min

There's more than a few good reasons to Linga Longa at Gundy....

FEATURE STORY Just 12 months after taking over the Linga Longa at Gundy, hoteliers Dan and Maxine Bennett were thrilled to find out the hotel had been voted winner of Power FM's recent Best of the Best Upper Hunter Pubs competition. The accolade was awarded as a result of public voting via the radio station's competition. "We feel very humbled to have even been nominated, let alone take out the award after only 12 months from taking over the pub," Dan said. "We are all over t

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May 31, 2018
3 min

AHA Variety Bash raises more than $1 million to help kids in need

It was the year the AHA Variety NSW Bash broke all records. There were more cars than ever before and they raised more money than ever before, with more than $1 million donated for kids in need. While AHA Variety NSW Bash veteran and Stag and Hunter hotelier Mick Starkey has seen his fare share of Bash events over the past 14 years, he says even he was gobsmacked by the result. "I am blown away at the generosity of donors and the effort teams have put in this year," he said

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May 18, 2018
2 min

Hoteliers hit the road to support kids in need across regional NSW

Sponsorship of more than 80 cars… The support of at least 100 hotels… In excess of $550,000 raised… This Sunday, 20 May 2018 more than 100 cars are expected to gather at Foreshore Park, Newcastle before heading off for the AHA Variety NSW Bash. Since 2013, the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) Newcastle Hunter Sub-Branch has been the major sponsor of Variety’s NSW Bash, an iconic 2,000-kilometre, round-trip adventure from Newcastle, made in cars more than 30 years old. "AHA

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May 14, 2018
2 min

BandAid at the Belli - mini music festival to raise money for Camp Quality

Now in it's third year, the Belmore Hotel's BandAid at the Bellie mini music festival will be held at the hotel on Saturday 26 May to raise money for Camp Quality. The festival was first held in 2016 after the hotel's operator and staff came up with a way to showcase live music, while also supporting a worthwhile charity. "We came up with Bandaid at the Bellie because we love live music and thought we could put it together to help Camp Quality raise money and support families

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