Four Newcastle locals and handful of pubs prove the spirit of giving extends all the way from the Stone Age to present day They’ve been at the pub week in, week out, all year, for the past seven years dressed as the Flintstones and never once have been asked to leave, not even when Fred (AKA Geoff Haran) shouts out Yabba Dabba Do at the top of his booming voice. In fact, the Flintstones are four of the most welcomed people you will find at both the Duke of Wellington and Nort

It was six days of driving, dirt roads and delighted kids as the 2019 NSW Variety Bash made its way across more than 2,000 kilometres of outback NSW, delivering in excess of $50,000 in funding to rural schools. This year's NSW Variety Bash raised more than $1 million in total for Variety -the Children's Charity and was proudly sponsored by the Australian Hotels Association Newcastle Hunter, for the eighth consecutive year. "This year our annual charity race day raised more th

For Tamworth Tradies Support the Ladies founders Gary Sinclair and Mathew Whitson, creating a non-profit organisation aimed at stopping breast cancer in its tracks is all about education - and they're bringing their unique style of awareness to the Bull n' Bush Hotel Medowie on Friday, 5 April... It started with something simple - asking friends and colleagues to wear a pink shirt to work on Fridays, but two years on the organisation has grown from its humble beginnings in Ta

Jacinda Norman works at the Nag's Head Hotel, Adamstown. She is also a passionate advocate for dementia support and research. On Sunday, 31 March Dementia Australia will hold its annual Memory Walk and Jog to promote an active lifestyle and to raise money for dementia support services. It is a fundraiser both Jacinda and the Nag's Head Hotel will be supporting. "Jacinda has been with us for about 18 months now. She is an amazing member of our team and sadly her father has bee

Last year Ray and Joy Webb, along with the Commercial Hotel at Morpeth's loyal patrons, raised thousands of dollars for local organisation Volunteers of Palliative Care. This year, using the hotel's same unique chocolate wheel style raffle, the venue and its patrons have raised more than $7,000 for the Cerebral Palsy Alliance. "We decided this year to raise money through our weekly raffle in support of people living with Cerebral Palsy," Joy said. "This was our non-profit org

If you're in need of an Australia Day celebration recovery plan and love a good lamb sandwich, The Farmers Hotel, Vacy is the place to be this Sunday. On the last Sunday of each month, the hotel will be cooking up camp-oven cooked lamb sandwiches, while also raising money for a non-profit organisation. "We will have gold coin donation tins there to raise money, $5 lamb sandwiches and live music to make an afternoon of it," hotelier Maurice Harden said. "We will choose the cha

Forget getting excited about royal visits by Harry and Meghan, or even William and Kate! There's a new group of royals in town and they go by the name The Royal Mo's! The Royal Mo's are an elite, yet local, group of people who came together at the behest of the Windsor Castle Hotel to raise money and awareness for Movember in support of Men's Health. Together the hotel and its loyal subjects have raised more than $6,000 for the cause throughout the month of November. "The Roy

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

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

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

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

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

Mitchell Pearce, Wendell Sailor, and Adam MacDougall are just some of the NRL stars ready to help raise money for the AHA NSW Variety Bash. The AHA NSW Variety Bash is an iconic 2,500-kilometre, round-trip, adventure across NSW starting and finishing in Newcastle in cars more than 30 years old. On Friday, 11 May the Royal Crown Hotel at Dudley will hold a fundraiser in support of the event with the goal of raising $30,000 for the cause. "We have five cars in our AHA NSW Varie

AHA Newcastle Hunter's recent charity race day held at Broadmeadow Racecourse has raised more than $62,000 for Variety’s iconic NSW Bash event. The AHA NSW Variety Bash is an iconic 2,000-kilometre, round-trip adventure made from Newcastle to Mudgee in cars more than 30 years old. Since partnering with Variety in 2013, AHA Newcastle Hunter has provided more than $360,000 to the organisation in support of the event. “Variety is an amazing charity which supports countless numb

Newcastle Hotel is proving bingo can be a lot more fun that getting dabber ink all over your hands and cursing old Mrs Jenkins when she calls out Bingo from the other side of the community hall. On Tuesday 24 April, that's ANZAC Day Eve for those you keen to head out before a public holiday, Hip Hop Bingo will happen at Newcastle Hotel - along with a few Hotline Hoagies if you happen to get hungry. Instead of the usual number and cards, Hip Hop Bingo requires you to mark R&B

Not content to rest on its laurels after taking out last year's Australian Hotels Association national accolade for Outstanding Community Service and Achievement - the George Tavern at Greenhills has started 2018 with the same high-level of commitment and dedication to its local community. In addition to offering numerous monthly fundraising opportunities, hotel owner Janine Redman and her team recently went one step further, holding a Community Appreciation Night to educate

Blackbutt Hotel operator Fiona O' Connor will host the Women Celebrating Women fundraiser on Thursday, 3 May to raise money for victims of domestic violence. Women celebrating women. That is the foundation for an annual fundraiser to be held at The Blackbutt Hotel on Thursday, 3 May. Hotel operator and event organiser Fiona O' Connor, said she created the Women Celebrating Women event eight years ago after noticing a number of hotel fundraisers' were based around sports or mo

When Tourist Hotel operators Geoff Hunt and Heidi Blackhall heard the annual Sandy Hollow Charity Horse Ride was in jeopardy, they knew they had to help For the past 18 years, the 35km Sandy Hollow Charity Horse Ride has been raising money for the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service. Every April hundreds of riders and their horses descend upon the rural town of Sandy Hollow, ready to help raise money for the cause - but this year there was a problem. The large parcel of land us

Known as one of the best, hard-working DJs that Newcastle has seen over the past 15 years, DJ Encore -AKA Niko Tapaleap, will be honoured this weekend at a benefit night held by The Crown & Anchor Hotel, Newcastle. Hotel operator Mark Chegwidden said the benefit night aimed to raise money for Niko's fiancee Melissa Konz, who continues to struggle after the sudden passing of her partner. "Niko was a friend of mine, and of the staff here at the hotel," Mark said. "He was a regu

Hotel operator Dave Anderson and bar manager Jack Emery will shave their heads on 13 April. For the fourth time in as many years, staff at The Royal Federal Hotel, Branxton are gearing up to undergo 'The Greatest Shave' in support of the Leukemia Foundation. On Friday, 13th April staff, including hotel operator Dave Anderson, will shave their heads along with members of the community, in front of a venue full of people to help raise money for those affected by blood cancer. I