Rotorua’s Ulysses Club donates $4k to St John

Ulysses Rotorua presented St John with a $4000 donation on Saturday. Photo / Mal Bain

Motorcycles roared down Rotorua’s Pererika St on Saturday as members of the local Ulysses Club drove a donation of $4000 to St John with style.

Ulysses Club member Gordon White said the donation had been collected from club members “over many years”.

“No doubt in a few years to come we will have another one,” White told the Rotorua Daily Post.

“This donation is a thank you to St John. The service they provide for the community is important.”

White said the Ulysses Club, an organisation for motorcycle enthusiasts which had 51 local members, were proud supporters of St John.

“We’ve taken collections for them, provided teddys for the children who ride in the ambulances and things like that,” White said.

“They have been our charity of choice since about 1991.”

The service they do to the community is important. The new building that will go there is a wellness centre and they have said that we will be quite welcome to use their facilities.

St John community educator Annette Binnie said Rotorua’s St John staff appreciated the Ulysses Club’s support.

“We were blown away by the generosity,” Binnie said.

Binnie said the money would be put to good use.

“Due to the need to relocate from our current premises, we have had to make the unfortunate decision to no longer allow our Pererika St premises available to outside groups for meetings,” Binnie said.

“The Ulysses Club was grateful for the use of our space for many years and wanted to show their appreciation to the area committee and contribute towards the kitchen facilities in our new premises.”

Binne said the Ulysses Club had been using St John’s Pererika St facilities for their regular meetings for over 30 years and assisted with local fundraising for St John’s Bay of Plenty area committee and ambulance service.