In 2022, the Baillie Street venue will be marking its 30th anniversary in Horsham and plans to celebrate by continuing its tradition of community support.

Club manager Glenn Carroll has been at the venue for 24 of its 30 years, overseeing four separate renovations and many events, functions and celebrations.

"I think it is a very unique setup in that all of the profits after normal trading a distributed back into the community," he said.

"The early days of the club itself were a real struggle. When gaming came to Victoria back in 1990, 40 local business people got together and put in $5000 each and the club was loosely started then.

"It didn't open until 1992. There was a lot of groundwork in between, a lot of hard times, and a lot of volunteer hours for people who had dreamt of what this place would be. It is now exactly what I think they hoped it would be."

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Mr Carroll became involved with the club in 1998.

He said one of the biggest changes in the time the club has operated was when Australian gambling licenses were deregulated in 2012.

"The duopoly of Tats and Tabcorp was removed and pubs and clubs in Victoria had the opportunity to operate their own gaming rooms was a significant change," he said.

"From an operational point of view, it was the most significant change."

During his time at the club, Mr Carroll said sat on many committees and community boards, including the Responsible Gambling Interest Group, Liquor Accord Australia and the Horsham Police and Community Consultative Committee.

He said the purpose of the club was, above all else, to support the community.

"The view of management and the board is that we are here to support the community, and the most effective way to do that is to provide something to support them with."

One way the Horsham Sports and Community Club helps the wider community is through funding projects which can be used by the wider community.

Since 2006, the club has given out more than $450,000 to a variety of major projects, including the construction of May Park's fence, Green Lake's pergola and public barbecue and lighting along the Wimmera River, among other projects.

The club has also awarded $2,271,127 in its history to various sporting groups and clubs through sponsorships.

Mr Carroll said the donation that sticks with him was to Horsham's Riding for the Disabled group.

"There was a photo I got back from the Riding for Disabled group, they wanted some boots for the kids to be able to ride the horses. They had none," he said.

"They sent us a photo of all of these kids lined up with their shiny boots on.

"That is the thing. It doesn't have to be huge amounts of money - it is what is relevant to the group. A couple of hundred dollars."

To celebrate the club's 30th anniversary, its board of directors has announced plans to allocate $30,000 toward a major community project.

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Anyone in the community can put forward an idea, five of which will be shortlisted to be selected for the donation.

Mr Carroll said the project must have a benefit to the wider community, and not be directed towards any particular group or sporting club.

"They are not for the benefit of anyone in particular - they are not going to benefit a single footy, golf, tennis or croquet club, it is going to benefit the wider community for a long time.

"That is the sort of project we are looking for. Hopefully, we get plenty of nominations."

Entries close on August 31. To nominate a project, call 0427123654.

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