The Grawin Opal Miners Sports and Recreation Club - known affectionately as the Club in the Scrub - will soon have the heat and the chill they need in a new kitchen, thanks to a funding injection from the NSW Government. 

The Community Building Partnership Fund is a NSW government initiative to support infrastructure projects that deliver positive social, environmental, and recreational outcomes. 

The club got the whole $23,538 they applied for to upgrade their kitchen with a new oven, walk-in freezer, air conditioning, and rewiring for the kitchen. 

"We can order the oven and freezer as soon as the funding comes in," Sandra Douglas, Volunteer and Vice Chairperson at the Club in the Scrub said. 

She said the kitchen will have to wait to be rewired because they cannot completely close the kitchen during peak season.

"It's been a long, long time since our last upgrade." 

The Club in the Scrub kitchen is open seven days a week, 365 days a year for lunch and from Wednesday to Sunday, run mainly by one staff person doing prep and cooking, and one volunteer cook helping out. 

Volunteers also help out with doing dishes and other tasks that need to be taken care of. 

Although the population of Grawin is not officially known, Ms Douglas said that during peak season they get around 1,000 visitors per week.

The Club in the Scrub has been around for nearly half a decade. 

Volunteers opened the club in 1976 in protest against the 'Pub in Scrub' raising the prices of their beer. 

Until the club became a registered venue in 1990, police would raid the club twice a year - and afterward join in for a drink with club members.  

The Grawin club has braved the pandemic, floods, and the closure of the fossicking dumps. 

On August 3, people from across NSW will flock to the Grawin Show held at the Club in the Scrub auditorium to see jugglers, roving entertainers, and the many competitions. 

Grawin Show 2023