Community Circus - How Do We Make It Work

A behind the scenes look at how we keep our circus studio up and running through all these strange economic times.....

FUNDRASIERS FUNDRAISERS FUNDRAISERS!

Running a non-profit Circus School really puts our juggling skills to the test.

We keep a lot of plates spinning - classes, free community events, performances, student welfare, insurance and rigging safety, all while unicycling through the terrain of cost of living pressure, global crisis and modern day life, its a LOT!

Recently we had our annual rigging safety checks and working bee, where we needed to update ropes and hardware, bring in a scissor lift and an external rigger to make sure all our amazing students stay safe. The total costs for the day was over $2000, so we thought we'd share some of the ways we make things work financially here at Roundabout. Our income from day to day classes and workshops helps pay the teachers, rent and insurance but we have lots of extra expenses that come up regularly that we often need to fundraise for such as replacing equipment, event costs, and marketing. We try to keep our classes affordable but with rising costs of things like insurance and rent every year, we try to lean on fundraisers to cover some of the extra expenses. And what is our favourite way to to that - Performances!!

ALIAS CABARET is a super fun fundraiser that we are hosting twice a year. ALIAS is an adults only show with a different theme and new acts for every show. Last month

we went back to Y2K dayz with some retro tunes and throwback threads. We also have a fantastic raffle with prizes from many generous local businesses. Our incredible performers and organising team volunteer their time and acts to help make this fundraiser a success. Our Y2K Tease helped us fundraise over $2000 to go towards our safety equipment checks and general operating costs.

BUNNINGS BBQ and CAKE SALE - Its pretty amazing that slinging snags and slices at Bunnings a few times a year can have the impact it does, but last time we did a Bunning BBQ we made a couple of grand and that was even with a period that we ran out of sausages! We are blown away with our communities generosity of their time and their impressive baking skills every time, and these funds go directly towards studio upkeep, and keeping our "Circus Fund Of Possibilities" up and running. Our next Bunnings BBQ is coming up on Sunday 7th of June and we still need about 8 more people to help out throughout the day. If you're able to lend a hand, our sign up sheet is HERE.

CIRCUS FUND OF POSSIBILITITES - Roundabout is a registered charity, we are able to accept tax-deductible donations and we use these to go towards this funding pool to help ease the cost of circus for students facing financial hardship. We take our moto... "Nothing is impossible in the circus" really seriously, and these days more than ever it feels very important to be able to remove financial barriers to passionate and deserving students that wouldn't be able to make it work otherwise.

VOLUNTEERS - This is the real heartbeat that keeps Roundabout ALIVE! Board Meetings, Working bees, Open Days, Tea and Circus, we absolutely could not do all we do without the many incredible volunteers who come forward, put their names down, bake cakes, sizzle sausages, or are out there representing our community through word of mouth and social media posting. Not to mention our incredible team who regularly volunteer extra hours for events and community building.

THANK YOU really doesn't cut it, but we are so grateful to be able to stop and reflect on all that we are able to achieve through the magic of circus, community problem solving and the power of good people coming together.

It feels like its never been more important for the people to unite and work together towards the common good, and we think that Roundabout is UNcommonly good!