The entertainment hub of western Maitland, despite taking a massive COVID-19 financial hit during lockdown, has somehow managed to retain its sponsorship arrangements with all the local sporting clubs it supports.

It was a close thing though. When The Mercury contacted the club a few weeks ago as social distancing requirements were starting to soften to ask about sponsorships, Sports and Sponsorships manager DJ Dilworth was non-committal.

"Call back in a couple of weeks ... honestly, I just don't know," he said.

He was delighted this week to announce that they have kept all sponsorship arrangements in place.

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"Don't get me wrong, a lot of them are on reduced funding," he said.

"But all the clubs have understood the position we're in and have been accepting. I have a close working relationship with at least one senior member of all the clubs we sponsor, and there's a mutual level of trust there.

'We know they're well run clubs, and we genuinely feel we have a community responsibility to help where we can."

So the Pickers, the biggest of their sponsorship deals, are all systems go.

"It's reduced, but it allows us both to function, and hopefully we'll be back to normal next season," DJ said.

While that's their big financial commitment, Lochinvar Rovers Football Club, West Maitland Wallaroos junior league, Rutherford Telarah Netball, Maitland Saints AFL, Maitland Touch Association and Maitland Softball Association all benefit from the club's generosity to the community.

"The Wallaroos said they would be able to look after themselves for this season, which is great, but we want to help them again next season if we can.

"Others said they would wear last year's uniforms instead of getting new ones ... they've tried to do the right thing by us too. It goes both ways.

"Most or our arrangements are for two or three years, so they know there is support there. We don't want to run things - far from it - but we want to get to know and understand the club and its needs, to see what's the best way to help.

"And it's not always money. For example, we had a lot of Club Maitland City plastic water bottles that we'd bought a few years back that were still in storage, so we've given them to a lot of the teams so the players now have their own water bottle for the season.

"It's about more than money. These teams help promote us and we get to help the community. Win win."