Ararat Town Hall hosted a sold out East Grampians Health Service Auxiliary Women Wisdom and Wellbeing dinner on Friday night.
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More than 280 women put on a colourful display of outfits as they raised $20,000 at the circus themed evening.
The dinner helps East Grampians Health Service Auxiliary undertake programs and buy equipment.
It was also the beneficiary of a $5000 state government grant to support events for rural women.
Auxiliary committee member Kate Connellan said the evening provided a forum for women in Ararat and rural areas to come together.
“It was a fun night with a bit of networking and catching up with friends,” she said.
“This was our 15th dinner, over the years it has evolved into quite a dress up night, this year the theme was circus.
“Everyone was dressed in some sort of costume so we had clowns, big tents, sideshow freaks and prizes, fortune tellers and sideshow galleries.
“People really went to town with getting dressed up and being quite creative.”
Ararat Primary School’s circus students performed acts while the Ararat Town Band and artists S.O.F.T also performed.
Mrs Connellan said there had been a lot of hard work put into making the spectacular evening possible.
“We are raising money for the community health centre at the hospital for an ultrasound machine as part of their incontinence program,” she said.
“There was a lot of literature on women’s health from the Jean Hailes For Women’s Health Foundation at the dinner.
“The men who come on the night are the waiters, some are quite prominent men like East Grampians chief executive Nick Bush.
“They are fantastic and have been doing that for the past 15 years.
“We also get a lot of support from local businesses and in-kind donations from businesses in town which we really rely on.”
The event also involved the Lions Club and the Rural Australians for Refugees’ Grampians branch.