IN PICTURES: Inaugural Cuballing Winter Ball raises $40,000 for BlazeAid

Hundreds of people donned their best outfits for the inaugural Cuballing Winter Ball, raising more than $40,000 for BlazeAid volunteers who have been repairing fences destroyed by bushfires in the region in February.

The event’s 150 tickets sold out within days, attracting community members, farmers and agricultural business representatives to the Cuballing Agricultural Hall on July 30.

Live music band Trip — made up of four young Wheatbelt musicians — kept attendees on the dance floor and grooving well into the night.

The event raised more than $40,000 for BlazeAid through ticket sales, the live auction and photography sales and a $25,000 donation from CBH’s Harvest Mass Management Scheme.

Shire of Cuballing president Eliza Dowling deemed the inaugural Cuballing Winter Ball a great success.

“It was very well supported by local farmers, community members and agribusiness with 150 tickets being sold within days and a full house on the night,” she said.

“In total over $40,000 was raised, which included a donation of $25,000 from CBH which went through their Harvest Mass Management Scheme.

“BlazeAid volunteers have been on site at the Narrogin and Wickepin fires since May this year and previously in Corrigin and Quaraiding, helping farmers clean up after the fires and replacing their fencing.

“They have done an amazing job and raising this money for BlazeAid through the ball was Cuballing’s way of saying ‘thank you’ for all their hard work.”

BlazeAid volunteers have been hard at work repairing fence lines damaged in the Wickepin-Narrogin bushfire that razed 18,000 hectares in February.

As of July, the volunteer teams had repaired or erected more than 115km of fencing across 12 properties.