Lange to head Bobby Goldsmith

Lange to head Bobby Goldsmith

Former co-chair of Sydney 2002 Gay Games Bev Lange has been appointed executive director of the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation.

Lavinia Crooks, vice-president of BGF, told Sydney Star Observer that Lange’s experience in gay and lesbian community organisations would be an asset in her new role. Lange is also a former president of Mardi Gras and gay radio station Out FM.

Clearly the reason Bev’s been appointed to this position is she has a considerable history working in the gay community across a range of areas, Crooks said. She also has considerable experience in the government sector in NSW and the appointment was made on the basis of thinking the skill set that she brought with her was one that would be of considerable value to BGF.

Lange, who currently works as a manager in the NSW Department of Transport, said she was excited about working in a community organisation.

I think it’s a great opportunity for me to get involved in a community organisation in a very different way to my past involvement. BGF is a great organisation with a great history and a great reputation and I’m looking forward to getting involved with them, she told the Star.

As co-chair of Sydney 2002 Gay Games, Lange saw the organisation go into administration in December 2002 with debts of close to $3 million. The loss left approximately 150 creditors across Sydney out-of-pocket, including the Australian Tax Office, Qantas, local businesses and local performers.

When asked if her history with the Gay Games could affect community confidence in her new role at BGF, Lange told the Star it was up to the BGF board to answer any community concerns over appointment.

They’ve employed me. They have presumably a level of trust in my abilities to manage a range of things in the organisation, financial being just one of them, albeit a very important one, Lange said.

Crooks said she was not concerned about Lange’s ability to deliver in her new position.

We’re not talking about running a one-off, short-term event, we’re talking about running an organisation over a long period of time, she said. I think the sorts of risks involved in something like Gay Games are a very, very different situation to the nature of the beast you’re talking about when you’re talking about running an organisation like the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation.

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