Wanting to support communities in the district doing it tough at the moment, the club liaised with the mayor and councillors of the Flinders shire to identify a project they could assist with.

According to club spokesman, John Playford, the project involved installation of new signage at the park, painting the roof and structures covering the picnic tables and painting the inside of the toilets in the park.

Eight Rotarians took part last weekend and were able to add a tour of Porcupine Gorge National Park to their itinerary after completing all the work by lunchtime Saturday.

“The park looks great now and will be clean and tidy for all travellers to use,” Mr Playford, himself a former Hughenden resident, said.

Having worked in agrifinance for several banks in a number of regional Queensland towns for 30 or so years, he said he was well aware of how tough conditions are for rural producers, business owners and families in the smaller towns in north and central west Qld at the moment.

The Townsville Sunrise club has also been working with the Flinders Shire Council around delivery of the Red Socks men’s health program to Hughenden.

Mr Playford said the program aimed to raise awareness, particularly about prostate cancer.

“We are hopeful that we can deliver approximately 700 pairs of Red Socks packs to families in Hughenden in the hope that the men in the family, after having received a pair, will go to their local doctor and have a check-up,” he said. “If feedback from this project is positive, we may look to deliver Red Socks into other townships.”

Prostate cancer affects one in nine Australian males, causing the death of 3300 men in 2010. The disease has a higher death rate than breast cancer in women.