AIDS Day dinner loss bites

A pottery class supporting people living with HIV in Western Sydney has been temporarily suspended after being told it will not receive thousands of dollars of promised funding from the World AIDS Day (WAD) Dinner Fund.

The news comes as event organisers reveal the 2011 black-tie fundraiser made a loss of between $40,000 and $80,000.

In a December 30 email to Positive Pottery — part of Blacktown Outdoors Group — WAD dinner organiser Eric Nair said the event had not performed as well as expected.

Positive Pottery founder Mike Moore said the group had applied for $12,000 and was told before the dinner it had been selected as a beneficiary.

“It’s very disappointing,” Moore told the Star Observer. “You put your heart and soul into these things.”

Moore said with its council funding coming to an end the group had been relying on the money to continue its classes.

Positive Pottery was among five HIV support groups promised funding from the dinner. Others included the Haven HIV support group, Tree of Hope counselling service, the Positive Support Network and accommodation provider Stanford House.

Tree of Hope is yet to receive $1000 of funding and the Positive Support Network $1800.

The $275 a head gala dinner, which featured a performance by Guy Sebastian, was held at Paddington Town Hall on December 1 2011.

In 2010 the event raised almost $50,000 for the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation and St Vincent’s Hospital.

Nair said the change in beneficiaries caused a decline in sponsorship and a lack of interest in ticket sales.

“Since the change of beneficiaries … we found it had a domino effect with support and I think that was due to the charities being grassroots charities that have been around for a very long time but weren’t in the spotlight,” he said.

“When you’re going to these events, one, you’re going to support the charity and, two, you go because it’s a glamorous affair.

“I think the red carpet may not have been enough and the charities we aligned ourselves with played a part in it.”

Nair admitted the event struggled to pay its expenses but said he notified charities of the organisation’s position immediately.

“Unfortunately when you’re that much in the red, it’s very hard to donate money to the charities,” he said.

Nair said a 2012 dinner was still being planned.

Positive Support Network manager Paul Maudlin said the situation was difficult for him and the other beneficiaries who scraped together enough money when told they had to pay to attend the dinner.

He said the Positive Support Network was more than $500 worse off for signing on as a beneficiary.

Nair said community groups would be reimbursed for their ticket costs.