Media releases: 4 November 2022
Initiatives funded in Nowra, Ulladulla, Bateman’s Bay and Bay & Basin
In partnership with The Snow Foundation and the Bendigo Bank Community Enterprise Foundation, FRRR has awarded $470,670 to community organisations across the South Coast of NSW. These grants are through the Investing in Rural Community Futures (IRCF) program, which builds and supports the capacity of local not-for-profit (NFP) organisations.
IRCF is a multi-year program that gives NFPs the resources and connections they need to support one another and to establish relationships that allow them to collaborate to fill in the existing gaps in their communities. The program operates in the South Coast communities of Nowra, Ulladulla, Bateman’s Bay and Bay & Basin.
Natalie Egleton, CEO of FRRR, said that the FRRR team has seen an increase in the level of interest in the IRCF program.
“One of the key elements of this program is the road mapping process where we bring local leaders together to identify gaps and, more importantly, future opportunities for their communities. This is quite unique to this program and so we have really noticed during this round, that the engagement in the road mapping process increased as everyone involved has now developed a greater understanding of how it works and how much it can benefit their local communities.
“We also noticed that community groups and NFPs are taking a much more collaborative approach to finding volunteers after volunteer engagement levels dropped off as a result of back-to-back disasters over the last couple of years. This is wonderful to see, as this program is designed specifically to encourage community organisations to work with one another and to find solutions within their own area and network,” Ms Egleton said.
Terry Snow, Founder of The Snow Foundation, which supports three regions within the IRCF program – Nowra, Bateman’s Bay and Ulladulla – said partnering with FRRR over the past three years has built stronger relationships within the South Coast communities.
“The South Coast is my home and given the challenges over the past few years, I have seen how bringing people together strengthens community. This is why the IRCF program is so good. It brings community groups together to work collaboratively and decide what they need and the best way to make it happen and each year relationships just get stronger,” Mr Snow said.
David Impey, CEO of Community Enterprise Foundation, the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank’s charitable arm, said they are proud of their partnership with FRRR and supporting the Bay & Basin communities.
“After what’s been an unimaginably difficult couple of years for these communities, it’s inspirational to see the community members coming together and working with one another as they once again begin to look towards building a more vibrant and resilient future. It’s this kind of dedication and willingness to support one another that will see the South Coast region thriving long into the future and that’s something that we take great pride in being part of,” Mr Impey said.
Some of the projects being funded are:
- Nowra Community Food Store Incorporated, Nowra – Planning for the Future – Define the direction of the organisation with a five-year strategic plan, operational business plan and HR framework – $13,000
- StoryFest Incorporated, Ulladulla/Shoalhaven – Fundraising for StoryFest school students – Enable the continued growth and success of StoryFest with a new website and marketing campaign – $10,000
- Rotary Club of Batemans Bay Inc, Batemans Bay/Eurobodalla – Establish and maintain the Batemans Bay Community Hub to provide information, resources and opportunities for local NFP organisations – $19,370
- Bay & Basin Community Resources Limited, Bay & Basin – Work, life and training Centre – Increase opportunities for youth to engage in training and employment with a project coordinator to establish a work, life and training centre – $30,000
In addition to the South Coast region, the IRCF South Coast program is also working in in Junee, Leeton and Nambucca Valley in partnership with the Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation.
For more information about the Investing in Rural Community Futures program visit – https://frrr.org.au/ircf-program/.
The full list of grant recipients and their projects is below.
| Organisation | Project | Location | Grant | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BATEMANS BAY PARTNERSHIP GRANTS | ||||||
| The Circle Foundation Cooperative Ltd | Building Capacity: Circle Foundation Cooperative Business Systems Development Build capacity by employing a project officer and IT enhancements to facilitate ongoing service delivery for people living with chronic illness. | Eurobodalla | $22,675 | |||
| Eurobodalla Education and Therapy Services Ltd | Attract and Retain Allied Health Professionals Attract and retain specialised staff by formulating a well structured learning and development strategy for the organisation. | Batemans Bay | $20,000 | |||
| The Family Place Inc | Scoping Housing Solutions - Community Creating a Better Future Stimulate innovative thinking focussed on housing solutions by engaging a project officer to develop and cost models to enable clients and broader community to sustain tenancy and support sector wide collaboration. | Moruya | $26,208 | |||
| Rotary Club of Batemans Bay Inc | Batemans Bay Community Hub Establish and maintain the Batemans Bay Community Hub to provide information, resources and opportunities for local NFP organisations. | Batemans Bay | $19,370 | |||
| SEARMS Community Housing Aboriginal Corporation | Living Library - Knowledge Circle Celebrating the cultural gift of language and the art of story telling in Aboriginal culture by adopting a holistic approach and sustained capabilities to community engagement. | Batemans Bay | $14,000 | |||
| Southcoast Health and Sustainability Alliance | Batemans Bay Community Coordinator and Business Manager Strengthen governance and business systems internally, continue to connect with council and assist not for profit community organisations to reduce their on-going energy costs. | Batemans Bay Region | $20,000 | |||
| BAY & BASIN PARTNERSHIP GRANTS | ||||||
| Bay & Basin Community Resources Ltd | Work, Life and Training Centre Increase opportunities for youth to engage in training and employment with a project coordinator to establish a work, life and training centre. | Sanctuary Point | $30,000 | |||
| Sussex Inlet Foundation for Community Development | Strengthening our Foundation Strengthen the volunteer committee of the Foundation for Community Development to help them grow the ways they can support and strengthen the Sussex Inlet Community. | Sussex Inlet | $19,500 | |||
| Tomerong School of Arts | Policies and Procedures Project Enable the hall to operate more effectively with the development of policies and procedures. | Tomerong | $12,000 | |||
| Vincentia High School P & C Association | Launch of Walawaani-ngarn Boost the profile and awareness of the community health hub with a launch event and marketing material. | Vincentia | $9,000 | |||
| NOWRA PARTNERSHIP GRANTS | ||||||
| Bomaderry Community Inc | Paying It Forward - Supporting Those People Who Sustain Our Community Support the volunteers to rejuvenate and focus on their passion | Bomaderry | $3,240 | |||
| Cullunghutti Aboriginal Child and Family Centre Aboriginal Corporation | Maintaining Momentum - Cullunghutti Master Plan Boost capacity to engage project officer to operationalise the strategic plan previously funded. | Shoalhaven | $20,000 | |||
| Kangaroo Valley Voice Incorporated | Kangaroo Valley Hub Enable development of a community hub with the collation of information and scoping of project. | Kangaroo Valley | $15,000 | |||
| Noahs Ark Centre of Shoalhaven Inc | Knowledge, Strength and Resilience- Sharing for the Future Nurture opportunity to provide intergenerational peer mentoring of professionals in the disability service. | Nowra | $7,900 | |||
| Nowra Community Food Store Incorporated | Planning for the Future Define the direction of the organisation with a 5 year strategic plan, operational business plan and HR framework. | South Nowra | $13,000 | |||
| Nowra Local Aboriginal Land Council | Strong Foundations Establish organisational policies and procedures manual, branding and communications strategy and provide governance support to the board. | Bomaderry | $18,315 | |||
| Pathways Foundation Limited | Pathways To Leadership Strengthen skills and abilities of youth mentors to deliver best practice programs locally. | Berry | $24,000 | |||
| Shoalhaven Business Chamber Incorporated | Community Plus Enable the community sector to leverage the established business chamber to share knowledge, build capacity and resilience by strengthening the links between the corporate and community sector. | Shoalhaven | $20,000 | |||
| Shoalhaven Community Pre School Inc | Administration and Operations Manager Support the final transition of the organisational growth and relocation of preschool. | Nowra | $30,000 | |||
| The Shoalhaven Women's Resource Group Ltd | Capacity and Capability Building Prepare the organisation to achieve accreditation, develop branding and a more efficient and informative website. | Nowra | $10,000 | |||
| ULLADULLA PARTNERSHIP GRANTS | ||||||
| Independence Ulladulla Inc | Helping Hands Improve systems to support leadership to innovate and grow | Ulladulla | $19,000 | |||
| Milton Ulladulla Business Chamber Inc | Community Connect - Information Creates Endless Possibilities Continuation of building connections within the community groups, assisting the the existing and new volunteers by capturing important information, to then share and create possibilities for the broader community. | Ulladulla | $20,830 | |||
| Noahs Ark Centre of Shoalhaven Inc | Destination Ulladulla Part Two Implement communication plan and to disseminate our videos most effectively and will build on capacity in recruitment and communications into the future. | Ulladulla | $12,000 | |||
| Safe Waters Community Care Inc | De-Escalation Training and Occupational Violence Prevention Training Empower staff and volunteers with the skills to de-escalate conflict and violence situations. | Ulladulla | $3,900 | |||
| South Coast Bookclubs Inc | Saving and Expanding the Bookclub Support for a self-sustaining book club service in Ulladulla to create a sense of community for new and existing residents. | Ulladulla | $6,456 | |||
| StoryFest Inc | StoryFest Inc - Fundraising for StoryFest Enable the continued growth and success of StoryFest with a new website and marketing campaign | Milton | $10,000 | |||
| The Dunn & Lewis Youth Development Foundation Ltd | Community Spotlight Foster youth interest in community volunteering with a Youth Podcast Series. | Ulladulla | $10,795 | |||
| Treading Lightly Inc | Regenerative Development Officer Role Build a Regenerative Design Model for the benefit of this and other NFP organisation as well as a wider range of stakeholders. | Ulladulla | $30,000 | |||
| Ulladulla and Districts Community Resources Centre Inc | Building Sustainability Prepare the Raft Race Committee for the future with succession planning and marketing support. | Ulladulla | $3,481 | |||
