Up to 117 community-led projects set to strengthen small remote, rural and regional communities across Australia have received a much-needed boost, with the community-driven initiatives sharing in $1,382,453 in grants. Funded through Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal's (FRRR) Strengthening Rural Communities (SRC) program, the grants support projects led by local people in small communities.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In this round of funding, 59 Black Summer bushfire recovery initiatives are sharing $894,313 in grants for recovery and preparedness projects. This includes the Seymour Community Action Group Inc. receiving $10,000 toward the 'Seymour Community Wetland Restoration and Reclassification Project'.
This project is set to promote community bushfire recovery by supporting volunteers to restore natural habitat and strengthen community connection to the environment through the development of a weed eradication project. There are also 58 projects spread across Australia sharing in $488,140 in this round of grants through the 'Small & Vital' stream.
These grants include $9,419 for the Geeveston Community Centre Inc's 'Scrubby Hill Farm Amenity Improvements' which will work to enhance food security, provide employment opportunities and support community health and wellbeing through the development of a micro-farm project.
The RESEED Centre Live Well Tasmania also received a grant to the value of $10,000 for their 'YOUth LEADing Tasmania (YLT) 2022'. The funding will be used for youth engagement and to build leadership skills through a facilitation training program encouraging young people to challenge world issues.
Place portfolio lead at FRRR Jill Karena said that, as COVID lockdown restrictions have eased, people are eager to connect, engage, celebrate and recover, but are also keen to ensure their community is stronger and more resilient for what may come.
"Our Heartbeat of Rural Australia study last year highlighted that among the biggest challenges for people was not being able to connect, so it was no surprise that many of the applications we saw in this round of SRC were about bringing people together," Jill said.
"This ranges from making facilities more comfortable and welcoming, such as air conditioners or new furniture, to better IT equipment, internet connections or communication tools to engage with their communities.
"Underlying most of the requests however is a desire to be stronger in the future - to be more resilient. Sadly, some of those communities that are receiving grants, have felt the effects of another disaster."
Kate Stark
Living and working on Turrbal Country, Kate is an experienced multi-platform journalist focused on the issues that impact national food sovereignty. Presented with the 2015 Rural Press Club award for excellence in rural print journalism, Kate is passionate about telling 'the story behind the produce' to close the gap between consumers and growers.
Living and working on Turrbal Country, Kate is an experienced multi-platform journalist focused on the issues that impact national food sovereignty. Presented with the 2015 Rural Press Club award for excellence in rural print journalism, Kate is passionate about telling 'the story behind the produce' to close the gap between consumers and growers.
