December is a time for looking back over the past year – how 2025 progressed for Epping’s community bank. And we also look ahead to what is coming up in 2026.

Community Bank Epping had quite a year. Our team were busy with many local customers, helping with their banking needs. It is a testimony to their hard work that we ended the financial year in June with a healthy pool of funds that were then allocated to our community grants and sponsorship program. The Board regularly assesses the bank’s financial position, pinpointing monies to go to help the Epping community.

By year end, more than $438,000 was spent on community programs. This enabled 50 local projects and helped 37 organisations. This was in addition to our Director’s grants program and some small donations.

What we supported:

• 14 Sports projects including local soccer, netball, rugby, bowling and cricket clubs.
• 15 Wellbeing projects – from Rotary youth development programs through to special Christmas hampers for needy families.
• 10 Education projects – helping provide capital works and new equipment at a pre-school, and (through P&C organisations) at local primary schools
• 8 Community facilities – including resources for rescuing stray cats through to key capital equipment for organisations supporting disabled people.
• 3 Arts events – assisting creative activity in our area

All of these projects had one thing in common – they only happened because of the dedicated work of volunteers. These are our neighbours, family and friends who generously give their time and skills to making Epping a better place to live. We were thrilled to honour 8 of them at our 2025 Community 2121 Awards in October.

What’s ahead?

With the support of locals choosing to bank with us, we will be able to continue our grants program. The next round of applications will be open from 1-28 February 2026.