80 Volunteers Save Coastal RSL From Closure After COVID

When the Coledale RSL shut down in 2022 after COVID and bad weather crushed business, President Melissa Ellery thought the beloved veterans club was finished. Then something unexpected happened.

Forty locals stepped forward to volunteer. They took alcohol training courses, learned to pour pints, and started scrubbing floors.

The club had been a coastal community hub since 1948, when 12-year-old Noel "Rooster" Brackenreg watched workers build it from an old army hut. Decades later, Rooster stopped in for drinks after long shifts at the nearby coal mine in Wollongong, New South Wales.

When closure threatened, the 90-year-old former national serviceman joined the rescue effort. Today he visits weekly to mow lawns, fix things, and share terrible jokes with customers.

"This was the hub of the town," Rooster said. "A thing like this where the townspeople started it, we've got to keep it going."

The transformation required hard choices. The club sold poker machine licenses and shifted focus from gambling to food and live music.

The Ripple Effect

The volunteer model created unexpected benefits beyond saving one building. Three generations of the Johnston family now volunteer together behind the bar.

Brooke Johnston works shifts alongside her daughter Taisha and her father Peter. "My grandfather was a veteran and contributing to this place keeps his memory alive," Brooke said.

The financial turnaround came faster than anyone expected. Within 12 months, the books looked healthy again.

"We were concerned for once the hype had died down," Ellery admitted. But three years later, the volunteer army has doubled to 80 people.

The club now hires a small paid staff with hospitality experience and leases its bistro to a local restaurant. The mix of volunteers and professionals keeps costs manageable while maintaining quality.

On Anzac Day, the club filled with locals honoring veterans like Rooster, who served five years after conscription. "I've seen all the sacrifices the armed services made to keep this country free," he said.

When Rooster first offered to volunteer, he worried at 90 he might be too old to help, but the community that raised him proved him wrong.