Grant Campbell has dedicated time to Edenhope-Apsley to help the children of the community prosper

He returned to his hometown, from Balranald in NSW, seven years ago. 

Campbell was diagnosed with Leukaemia before moving back to Edenhope. 

August 9 will mark five years since Campbell had a bone marrow transplant.

Campbell has done a huge job in the upkeep of the Edenhope-Apsley grounds, watering the field every morning as well as helping to construct the fencing line around the oval and raising money through different avenues.

He was one of the people involved with laying concrete at the foyer of the clubrooms.

“After the transplant, the kids were always involved with sport – so we just carried on being supporters of the club,” Campbell said. 

He has two children – Hayley, 23, and Ben, 20. 

“Hayley does sports therapy in Melbourne and Ben lives in San Jose, California doing college golf,” Campbell said. 

Campbell said a big influence on his involvement with the club was Neville “Curls” Forster.

“He started up a small committee – a grounds committee. Outside of football, we look after the two grounds,” he said. 

“Curls was the instigator of the (Brendan Fevola) game here at Edenhope three years ago – him and Danny West. Curls died here... he had a heart attack over at the ticket box about three weeks before the Fev game.” 

Campbell said the Fevola game had set up the club financially for two years. 

“We just vowed to keep his legacy going. We’ve spent more than $40,000 here in the past three years on new fencing, the scoreboard, new goal posts, new seats and concrete, new lighting at the netball courts … any sort of infrastructure that needs doing around here as well as the new ticket box,” he said. 

“(The grounds committee) raised money for it all.” 

Campbell is a strong believer in football and netball clubs helping the community prosper and said it was great being part of a close-knit club. 

“I love the social life and community involvement,” he said. “Watching my kids go through sport here was a great thing to be a part of. 

“When we moved back to Edenhope, (doctors) never gave me long to live until I had the transplant. I just feel you have to give back to the club that your kids get so much out of. 

“This is a great community for kids. Without football and netball in any small community, you don’t have much. Football and netball is the backbone of this town.” 

Campbell said the community needed the club. 

“It’s not about me and it’s not about the parents – it’s about the kids in the community and that’s why I continue to volunteer here. It’s all about the kids,” he said. 

A major fundraising contributor is the scrap metal section. The committee also run roughly 20 cattle within the Edenhope area. 

“We try to raise $30,000 a year so we can give back to the club,” Campbell said. 

“I’m just down the road and Bruce Ackland lives in town, too. We water the ground all year – for the cricketers, too. We fertilise the ground … in the past three years we’ve put down four tonnes of fertiliser.

“I honestly think it’s the best ground in the league, oval wise.”