Thwarted by the Bollards
Our event at RMIT with the RC of Melbourne and RMIT students was held last Thursday evening, 23 April 2026. You will not believe me when I say that it provided more challenges than the three previous yearly events. But, yes, it’s true.
Remember, I had advised I had previously been to RMIT to check that the venue and ensure close parking was arranged. Well, it was done and I was present when all this notification and booking occurred with the various RMIT departments. Unfortunately, for some reason, security staff did not tell the staff member that egress through the delivery street is only allowed till 2pm for traffic flow purposes. So, little did we know, all that planning and confirmation was useless.
Back to the saga. We dutifully arrived for set up at 3.15pm. Checked into the venue on level 7 and decided on how the work flow would work best and awaited the arrival of Doug with the truck. Which he dutifully did on time, an easy negotiation to the delivery entrance, but to no avail, vehicle access was denied and the bollards stayed in their upright position. Then for Doug, the circuits of the RMIT block began with increasing numbers of pedestrians and changing traffic controls. The long and short of it is that Doug ended up in a laneway adjacent to the RMIT buildings (where we parked last time) and again it was guarded with bollards and yes, he encountered the emergency services vehicles again! There were issues with that parking too that is better left untold.
To add to the woes of the parking area, it took around 25 minutes with every load to negotiate lifts, building passages and more lifts to transfer items to and from the venue. Delay after delay, but thanks to all and especially the RMIT staff, we finally got underway by 5.30pm, with some breaks, as we awaited further supplies arrival throughout the event.
Alex thought for a long time she was never going to see a FORaMEAL pouch to date stamp and at one stage, we were going to send out a search party for Cathie as she had been absent for so long.
Somehow everyone persevered the production lines were setup, raw materials boxes filled, pouches date stamped and boxes made up and the whole event was underway.
The students and members of RC Melbourne managed to pack 10,500 meals instead of the anticipated 14 to 16,000 meals.
Thanks to Alan, Kyle, Ken, Cathie, Jill, Alex, Narelle, Joe, Rob and Neil for your adaptability and tolerance. We couldn’t have done it without you. Hopefully, the next one with RC Camberwell on 6 May will be much improved.
Believe it or not but some of the students are requesting to be put on the list for notification of the RMIT event for 2027. They felt that they achieved so much and were pleased to support our program to provide food relief to the needy and above all had had a fantastic fun evening with their fellow students. Another one in 2027, maybe be or maybe not. It won’t take much guessing which side Doug and I are on!!
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