The White Tie Ball, a fundraiser for Housing Plus, and a masterclass by internationally recognised pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk as part of his 'Live at Yours' performances have been recommended for financial support as part of OCC's Events Sponsorship round-four funding.

The ball, which is being staged on May 22 for 340 people and is the major fundraiser for The Orchard, Housing Plus' domestic violence refuge, will receive $5500.

Organisers of the White Tie ball have asked OCC to supply the funding in Shop Orange gift cards.

"This would have the double benefit of supporting local Orange business and the opportunity for Orange City Council to support a local community fundraising event that raises money to support women and children escaping domestic violence," the event precis states.

As part of his Live at Yours concert, Mr Gavrylyuk will offer his expertise at a masterclass for young musicians at the Orange Regional Conservatorium of Music the following morning, which council staff believe will enhance Orange's reputation as a cultural hub for the Central West region. The recommendation is for the event to receive $2000.

On the flip side, a Yu-Gi-Oh! regional qualifier, a charity golf day and veterans golf tournament look like being unsuccessful, largely through the timing and the lack of detail on their applications.

Thanks to the late staging of the December 4 local government election, the previous council had gone into caretaker mode prior to the closing date for round three applications. Council staff cannot approve applications on behalf of council. Council policy also dictates funding for events cannot be approved retrospectively.

The three events have already been staged with the Wangarang Charity Golf Day at Duntryleague on February 11 while the City of Orange Veterans Golf Classic ran at Wentworth and Duntryleague from March 6 to 11. The Yu-gi-Oh! event was in January.

A panel assessment by staff also recommended declining sponsorship with the report stating the event applications "did not demonstrate sufficiently meeting all criteria".

Wangarang had applied for $4000, Veterans Golf Classic $1000 and Yu-Gi-Oh! $1276.50.

In all three cases, the applications were deemed "light in detail and scoring low in terms of revenue generation for the city and businesses with no information a supporting evidence for the benefits".

The allocated budget for the Sponsored Events program in 2020-21 was $100,000 of which there is $41,938 remaining.

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