With more than two metres of rain falling across Far North Queensland in the last few days, communities are now facing an unimaginable clean up and recovery journey ahead.

After working alongside disaster-affected communities for more than 20 years, we know that the small, remote communities in this region will need support in their recovery over the medium to long-term. That’s why FRRR is launching a Flood Recovery Appeal.

While the extent of the impact is still unfolding and immediate response needs are being coordinated, once that support has ceased, in about 12-18 months, there will still be significant community-level needs still to be addressed. Those will evolve over the coming years too – moving from a focus on physical things that enhance safety in the event of a ‘next time’, to helping address volunteer fatigue and eventually supporting general community wellbeing, economic recovery and organisational capacity building.

Our role – with the support of our partners – is to be there as they move through this journey, offering patience, continuity, flexibility and agility to move how and when the community is ready – with fit-for-purpose funding and resourcing support.

That’s why FRRR established the Disaster Resilience and Recovery Fund (DRRF) in 2019 – to ensure that we can support grassroots community organisations across remote, rural and regional Australia that often miss out on receiving funds donated for disaster recovery.

This Fund ensures that FRRR can support recovery when the community is ready, usually long after the headlines have faded. It also funds preparedness initiatives so that communities are in a better position to recover from a disaster event. Funds are invested with the returns used to fund grassroots groups to implement the recovery initiatives that they prioritise, long after immediate response and relief funding has ceased.

Alternatively, donations can be made directly to the Prepare & Recover stream of FRRR’s small grants program, SRC, which provides grants of up to $25,000 to communities impacted by disasters. Our supporters are able to nominate that they would like their funding to be directed to supporting communities impacted by a particular disaster, such as TC Jasper.. We report regularly to our supporters and, for significant donations, can trace contributions through to the specific projects that funding has made possible.

Taking a holistic approach

At FRRR, we view disasters as environmental shocks that remote, rural, regional communities regularly experience. We know they are increasing in frequency and severity; what makes them complex is not knowing when they will occur, where, or the severity and nature of their impact.

In operational terms, FRRR has a standing disaster philanthropy model that we scale when a major disaster occurs. Each year, with support from hundreds of donor partners, we provide grants and capacity support to around 600 remote, rural and regional places across the country via almost 1,200 grants. This reach gives us a good footprint and connection points that we can naturally tap into when disasters occur – and it means we are building on the resilience and capability that has been built up in between disaster events.

Recovery and preparedness efforts depend on the social ties, quality of community infrastructure, depth and breadth of skills and networks, cultural knowledge, and the health of local service systems, not-for-profits and community groups. FRRR’s approach is to balance funding for recovery and preparedness to support people and community-led processes as well as infrastructure and equipment. This approach enables improved outcomes as communities move through their recovery and aims to support needs now and as they evolve.

If you’d like to know more either about our approach or how you can help, please get in touch with us via info@frrr.org.au or partnerships@frrr.org.au.

27 community groups in disaster impacted areas of rural NSW and QLD to receive funding

FRRR, in partnership with Suncorp and GIO, has awarded $500,000 to 27 community groups and local not-for-profits (NFPs) to support recovery initiatives in rural communities impacted by the East Coast Australia floods in February and March 2022.

The grants, which are through the Rebuilding Futures program, range from $4,129 to $25,000.

They will be used to fund a range of projects, including equipping community facilities to be prepared for disasters, mental health training, community resilience and healing events, food security initiatives, environmental restoration, buying emergency equipment, restoring flood damaged infrastructure, developing preparedness plans and mentoring initiatives.

This is the second round of grants to come from the $1 million pledge the Suncorp Group made to FRRR to support recovery and preparedness activities in remote, rural and regional communities impacted by natural disasters.

Suncorp Group Head of Disaster Response & Customer Experience, Cath Stewart, said the diversity of applications shows the importance of responsive and flexible funding.

“The grant applications we received in this round are all the proof needed to reaffirm community leaders are best placed to understand exactly what the people in their areas need at this moment in time.

“These communities were all impacted by the same natural disaster, yet it’s very clear that they have diverse needs based on the point that they’re at on their road to recovery. We are pleased to be able to support a range of initiatives from building organisational capacity and giving locals the opportunity to develop their skills, to investing in life saving equipment and improving access to services,” said Ms Stewart.

Nina O’Brien, Disaster Resilience and Climate Solutions Lead at FRRR, said the grant recipients have shown commitment to the long-term recovery and resilience of their communities.

“People have had their lives turned upside down, yet they’re determined to work together to make sure their communities bounce back stronger than ever from the floods. Thanks to the generous support of GIO and Suncorp, we are able to offer the funding that will allow them to address their unique community recovery needs for rebuilding their future, and that’s exactly what each of the NFPs and community groups receiving funding are on a mission to do.

“Each of these initiatives, whether it be an upgrade to existing community facilities, the renewal of shared social spaces, improved community facilities, the purchase of emergency equipment or mental health support, is a practical response that will support long term recovery, which is exactly what is needed in the areas affected by floods and storms in early 2022.

“Recovery will take many years and every community has different needs and different capacity levels when it comes to tackling the recovery process. That’s why it’s so crucial that we provide these local groups with the support they need to build back better and design their own path to recovery, when they are ready,” said Ms O’Brien.

Among the 27 projects funded this round are:

• Surf Life Saving Far North Coast Branch Inc, Byron Bay, NSW – Mental Health Training and Support – $9,650 – Build community resilience through delivering a Mental Health Training and Support program to life savers, equipping them with skills to support themselves and their community.

• Resilient Lismore Incorporated, Lismore, NSW – Resilient Lismore – community recovery and connection events – $25,000 – Bolstering resilience to disaster by strengthening community connections and increasing mental health and wellbeing via a series of community events to be held around the anniversary of the February 2022 flood event in Lismore.
  
• Wilsons Creek Community Hall Inc, Wilsons Creek, NSW – Wilsons Creek Community Hall Solar Storage Battery – $12,240 – Build capacity of Wilsons Creek Community Hall to stay in contact by purchasing a solar battery to ensure power supply during extreme weather events.
  
• The Trustee for Top Blokes Foundation, Beaudesert, QLD – Building the resilience of vulnerable young men in the Scenic Rim – $25,000 – Improve the mental health and community engagement skills of at risk and disadvantaged young boys to bolster recovery in flood impacted communities.

• Glastonbury Hall & Recreation Association Inc, Glastonbury, QLD – Rebuilding for the Future – Glastonbury Disaster Centre Hub – $25,000 – Build capacity at Glastonbury Hall to support community with adequate kitchen facilities during refuge from disasters and to support community connection activities.

• Tansey Show Society Incorporated, Tansey, QLD – Upgrade facilities at Tansey Showgrounds – $15,000 – Boost organisational resilience and community wellbeing by repairing the flood damaged shower blocks at Tansey Showgrounds.

The full list of grant recipients and their projects is below.

More information on the Rebuilding Futures grant program is available on FRRR’s website.