On Thursday 24 August, Lighthouse’s East Malvern Committee organised an exclusive screening of the 1966 St Kilda grand final at the Palais Theatre in St Kilda to raise funds for Lighthouse Foundation. Footage of this epic win has never been publicly screened, so this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Saints fans to celebrate 150 years of the St Kilda Football Club and watch the game on the big screen.
Over 480 fans filled the theatre and enjoyed delicious footy food – hot pies and beer, while checking out historic memorabilia from 1966. It was great to see Saints fans showing their support for their team and Lighthouse.
Legendary St Kilda champions, Ross Smith, Barry Breen and Ian Stewart took part in a halftime panel and relived the glory days. The crowd also got to hear from Lighthouse CEO, Dr Eamonn McCarthy, and the reason we were all at the event – to raise funds to support the young people in our care with a safe home and the therapeutic care they need to heal and thrive.
There was a massive roar from the crowd as they watched Barry Breen kick the winning point and a sense of team spirit filled the theatre. This spirit could also be felt through donations received from the night – thanks to everyone who bought tickets, pies and raffle tickets, we raised an incredible $26k. A big thanks also go to our East Malvern Committee who made this event possible. Committee member, Brad has been volunteering with Lighthouse for 20+ years and has dreamed of turning this event into a reality for a long time. Thanks to his determination, and that of the committee, we saw that happen and were able to raise vital funds that will assist us in supporting our young people. The night was a win for the Saints and a win for Lighthouse.
We would also like to extend our fans to the following individuals and organisations who contributed to making this event a success:
- Lighthouse’s East Malvern Committee
- Event sub-committee: Alice, Brad, Catherine, Finn, Grace, Harriet and Spencer.
- St Kilda past players: Barry Breen, Ian Stewart, Neil Roberts and Ross Smith
- St Kilda Football Club for marketing support, memorabilia display and the raffle prize
- Palais Theatre for hosting the event and all staff who supported it
- Iza Staskowski for media support
- City of Port Phillip to support hire of the Palais Theatre
- AFL for provision of the footage free of charge
- Patties for the donation of Four’N Twenty pies
- Affirm Press for raffle prize
- Mona Castle Hotel Seddon for help with the pies
- QMS for providing billboards to promote the event
