Gemma Hart works as a Youth Programs Manager at Dunn Lewis Youth Development Foundation. The mission of the organisation is to provide access to services and create opportunities for all youth to live their best lives, by developing programs and undertaking outreach services. 

Participating in FRRR’s IRCF Program supported Gemma to further develop leadership skills and form new connections. Gemma has shared what she got out of being involved and how this has fed into the vital and impressive work she does with youth in the Ulladulla region.

What did you get out of being involved in IRCF, from a leadership and personal development perspective?

Being involved in the IRCF program gave me benefits on multiple levels. I learned more about my own leadership style, how to work in ways that enable the quieter voices in a room to be heard, and how to design workshops and programs that are more collaborative and that utilise a systems approach. But perhaps the most beneficial thing for me was that the programs brought several leaders together in the same room, from the broader region, which enabled us all to learn from and connect with each other in ways that ensured future collaborations.

What did you learn?

I learned more about the strengths in my leadership style and how to apply it, I learned a variety of ways to present problems and collaboratively find solutions. I learned several techniques to bring people together in a space and problem solve, and I learned that there are so many passionate, community-focussed people in my region that are wanting to support their communities in amazing ways.

How have you applied what you learned?

I use many of the techniques I learned for group work and problem solving with the young people I work with, I definitely use my own leadership style more now and I have actively collaborated with quite a few people and groups from around my region that participated in the same events. Those connections have been invaluable for me as a lone operator in the service I work for. It has been amazing to know that I have more people in the region I can collaborate with when designing projects, people that are just as passionate about community as I am.

What would you say to anyone else thinking about stepping up and getting involved in IRCF, or investing in leadership development activities?

Do it, don’t hesitate, don’t second guess anything. I really wasn’t sure what to expect from any of these events at first, but they far exceeded my expectations. The connections and support you will have from other participants when you leave is priceless. When you work in community, often on a shoestring, there is so much benefit in collaborating with other people and services who want the same things for their communities. And there is so much you’ll find others have done and are willing to share so you don’t have to ‘reinvent the wheel’ so to speak. It improves your projects, and the outcomes of everything you try to do. 

The Family Place has supported families of the Eurobodalla for more than 30 years. The community hub they operate in Moruya brings together community and health services through the provision of financial and support services to a culturally diverse and economically disadvantaged community.   

In 2020-2021, through IRCF, The Family Place was supported to develop a five-year strategic plan to equip the organisation for a planned period of growth.   

A $40,785 FRRR IRCF grant funded a 12-month program of work to engage a consultant, run a staff wellbeing program and retreat, invest in technology for telehealth and a make contribution to management wages.  Training in leadership, values and ethics, as well as self-care in a disaster planning and recovery context were all incorporated into the program.  

The Family Place said the IRCF support was instrumental in ensuring strong strategic objectives, skilled leadership, connected staff and a clear vision.  

A second grant of $20,000 at the end of 2021 enabled the appointment of a part-time role to further support fundraising, compliance and governance.  This allowed The Family Place to respond to rapidly escalating demands from vulnerable families and become better positioned for exponential growth.  

Changes to the structure and culture of the organisation also made it a stronger and more sustainable non-for-profit, while continuing to support and lead community development and wellbeing initiatives. 

Bay & Basin Community Resources (BBCR) is a community-led, not-for-profit that has served the Shoalhaven and Illawarra communities for more than 30 years. Established to address a large gap in services, BBCR has built on its services over decades and supports youth and community programs, aged care and disability services. Aimed at supporting communities to thrive and live happy, healthy, meaningful and productive lives, its dedicated staff and volunteers provide personalised care.

BBCR has received nearly $150,000 via six IRCF grants, which have provided the necessary funding to enable them to deliver a series of impactful projects.

In 2021/22, a $30,000 IRCF grant supported BBCR to improve communications and marketing by employing a marketing coordinator for six months. This allowed BBCR to refresh its profile and brand, build a new website internally, with stakeholder input, as well as a separate website for the organisation’s community radio station.

A further $30,000 grant in October 2022 helped increase training and employment opportunities for youth. A project coordinator was appointed to establish a work, life and training centre.

BBCR has continued to evolve to meet the growing needs of the Bay and Basin communities. Engaging with local youth as design partners, BBCR went on to successfully secure a $558,000 Regional Youth Investment Program grant in 2023, to build a dedicated Youth Space in Sanctuary Point.

Other projects BBCR has embarked on, thanks to IRCF funding, include a targeted school-refuser reengagement program; a community NFP asset mapping project to help inform planning, policy and program decisions; and engaging a dedicated part-time administrative professional to lead the development and delivery of an innovative Learn-to-Drive Mentor Program for disadvantaged youth in the Bay and Basin area.

BBCR has shown a sophisticated understanding of the capacity building opportunity that IRCF presented and, as a significant player within the NFP sector in the Bay and Basin region. This investment in BBCR and the capacity building work they’ve done over the past five years through the IRCF Bay and Basin program has set them up to act as the umbrella / connector organisation when the IRCF program concludes.

Two former Community Facilitators have moved into positions where they can draw on the extensive knowledge they now have of their communities. This showcases why the IRCF model invests in local Facilitator roles – so that highly skilled local social impact practitioners become even more deeply embedded in the important work happening in their home communities.  

After two years as the Investing in Rural Community Futures (IRCF) program Bay and Basin facilitator, Kate McBride (pictured below left) is building on her wonderful work in a role with Uniting’s place-based initiative, Firefly.  

Firefly supports and advocates for young people in the Bay and Basin through collaboration, working with the community and organisations for better outcomes and experiences for youth.  

Kate said one of the many rewarding aspects of her time at FRRR was deepening her understanding of place-based work and seeing firsthand how it strengthens communities and improves outcomes.  

“I loved my time as a Community Facilitator, making all the wonderful connections both in the Bay and Basin, as well as more broadly on the South Coast,” Kate said.  

In her new position on the Firefly team as the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Specialist, Kate will assess the impact of Uniting’s place-based initiatives by tracking effectiveness, analysing data, and providing insights to enhance outcomes.  

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to remain connected to the Bay and Basin community, while also sharing learnings with others looking to foster similar place-based initiatives. I look forward to continuing to support and strengthen the vital work happening in our region and beyond,” Kate said.  

Meanwhile Steph Chiu (pictured top right), former Batemans Bay Facilitator, has been engaged as Coordinator for the Eurobodalla Community Support Network (ECSN).  

The ECSN is made up of Eurobodalla community members, community groups, service organisations and government agencies.  Established to build connection during the Black Summer recovery, its purpose is to connect, share and collaborate to increase community resilience.  

ECSN has been supported by the IRCF program, most recently through Toolbox funding for the Coordinator role, which will help ensure ECSN continues to function and flourish to provide social cohesion, capacity building and future resilience.  

Steph believes a network such as ECSN is incredibly important for strengthening community resilience. 

“Engaging in a network is a way to practice sharing and collaboration around larger issues that impact multiple sectors and groups,” Steph said. 

ECSN has emerged as the only collective that has relationship with council, state and federal government. It currently represents 66 different NFP’s and government agencies. 

Beyond Empathy (BE) is creating pathways for young people, fostering their creative talents and providing them with sustainable opportunities in the arts sector. 

BE’s Nowra-based social enterprise, BE Studios, pairs experienced creative producers with emerging arts leaders, who receive mentoring, skills development and support. Together they deliver a range of sound, video production and podcasting services. 

Through an Investing in Rural Community Futures (IRCF) grant, BE Studios has grown its capacity. The enterprise sought support to work on business development, marketing, community engagement, recruitment and collaboration. 

Consciously building stronger ties within the community and formulating sustainability and fundraising strategies has better equipped the enterprise to support professional development and employment opportunities for young artists. 

The initial $14,144 grant helped BE Studios leverage additional funding, including reaching the final stages of a possible $120,000 through the Federal Government’s Social Enterprise Development Initiative (SEDI). 

In 2024, a fundraising campaign to support development for emerging leaders raised over $63,000. Further training, mentoring and professional development were provided to young participants through BE Studios’ increased resources and business development. 

Client-based trading income of $88,354 was also used to increase investment into the capacity building and business development project, to the value of $41,452. 

As each of the project activities has been implemented, including reviewing the business model, recruitment of a BE Studios Coordinator and strategic policies, the capacity and wellbeing of the BE Studios Team has continued to grow. 

BE Studios has embraced new opportunities within their broadened network, allowing emerging leaders and participants to have greater involvement and employment in community cultural development projects. 

If this story sparks a thought about a program in your region, connect with BE to learn more about how you could implement a similar initiative or collaborate with them to strengthen each others work.

As the Investing in Rural Community Futures (IRCF) program culminates in the South Coast communities, one of the biggest impacts has been the growth in the people that have delivered the program.

The Community Facilitators have not only held the space for conversations, nurtured the roadmaps, listened deeply to community; they have also gained important skills and knowledge around leadership, storytelling, “Art of Hosting” techniques and a deeper cultural understanding. Along with many other wonderful social impact skills, these will be an asset to their communities for many years to come. 

Last week Monique, Kate, Steph and Carolyn had the chance to connect in person, reflect on the last few years and enjoy a wonderful lunch at The Cup’N’Cake’N’Co, a social enterprise that was initially seeded with an IRCF start up grant in 2020. It was wonderful to be together and feel the connection that has been forged through shared experience in delivering this impactful program. 

The team also took the time to gather a parting gift for each of the 50+ organisations we have been on this journey with over the last five years, with special items from a few of the social enterprises who have been partners in the IRCF journey on the South Coast. 

Much gratitude to facilitators: Monique Carson, who has been on this journey since the first roadmapping in Ulladulla and always gives above and beyond; Kate McBride, who has stepped up with poise and confidence in the Bay and Basin Community; Stephanie Chiu, who in a deeply connected way stepped into the Batemans Bay community with such impact; and Leah Szanto who supported the Bega Valley community with such professionalism and commitment. A deep and heartfelt thank you to Kate Dezarnaulds, Jules Klugman, Meg Stratti, Natalie Lloyd and Bree Morgan who supported their communities in the program.

The IRCF program is not possible without the key element of investing in people and engaging local facilitators who are part of and know their community deeply, these committed individuals who do so much in their two days a week with us are the key reason for the incredible impact this program has delivered. Thank you all for your generosity, humour, kindness and sharing of your love for community. 

In the Bega Valley, strengthening capability for sharing resources was a community roadmap goal. The Bega Valley Data Collective (BVDC) had support through the Investing in Rural Community Futures (IRCF) program to develop a community-led wellbeing framework aimed at empowering the community to thrive.

The first stage of this was the Measuring What Matters in the Bega Valley project, which has now been successfully completed. As a community engagement initiative, the project provided crucial insights into the issues and priorities that matter most to Bega Valley residents.

Organisations who participated learnt how to access and use community data and how wellbeing frameworks can achieve meaningful impact for community-led decision making, as well as enhancing grant applications.

To mark the official launch of the Living Well in the Bega Valley campaign, BVDC hosted a film screening on November 18^th in Merimbula. Titled Purpose, the documentary follows the journey of political economists Katherine Trebeck and Lorenzo Fioramonti as they seek to change the way progress is measured to change what governments do. Envisioning a world in which the economy serves the people, rather than the people serving it, the pair initiate political projects in the hope of shifting economic systems away from endless GDP growth, towards what really matters for people and planet.

The screening was followed by an enthusiastic Q&A session. April Merrick, FRRR’s NSW Programs Manager and committee member of BVDC, said the event provided a thought-provoking exploration of the wellbeing economy. “It was great to see so many engaged people turn out. It reinforced what we heard in our recent survey where over 90 percent of respondents rated community-led decision making as an important factor for community wellbeing.

BVDC has been developing partnership agreements with the University of Canberra and the Australian Bureau of Statistics and will be announcing two projects to come from these collaborations in early 2025.

Uniting – Firefly Bay & Basin is one of nine Uniting NSW / ACT Future Horizons community initiatives that aim to build a better world by focusing on communities and places with the greatest need. They bring together young people, parents and carers, schools, organisations, governments and residents to collaborate, find solutions and create lasting change for that community. Firefly works with, supports and advocates for young people in the Bay & Basin region of NSW, and collaborates with the broader community and local organisations for better outcomes and experiences for local youth.

Firefly partnered with Sanctuary Point Community Pride Inc to receive a $26,000 grant through FRRR’s Investing in Rural Community Futures program to create the Youth Voice project for the Bay & Basin community. They drew on the invaluable expertise of Western Sydney University to develop a high quality, research-based program that resulted in four youth-led projects for the community.

The Youth Voice project acted as a vehicle to engage and empower young people to ‘Ask, Amplify & Act’. The grant money was allocated to increase the capacity of Firefly Bay & Basin by employing a Youth Practitioner at Firefly to collaborate with Beyond Empathy to deliver this project. This resulted in a number of projects being pitched to the community and each Youth Voice team engaged with community to create a network to co-design the implementation of the final four projects, which include:

1. Repairing and revitalising the Malcolm Moore Reserve Basin View BMX track;
2. Expansion of Vincentia High’s Breakfast Club to have more inclusive options and have made it available to students five days a week;
3. A purpose built wall in Sanctuary Point for young people to have access to creative arts activities; and
4. Providing community events and advocacy for families of people with autism spectrum disorder.

They received further funding from the NSW Premiers Department, Local Small Commitments Allocation to support the Youth Voice team in implementing these projects, which are due for completion by the end of this year.

The Firefly team has also developed the skills to be able to deliver the Youth Voice project in the high school again next year and will encourage more young people to be changemakers in their community. The capacity developed within the Firefly team has also resulted in them developing a partnership with Sanctuary Point Primary School, where they will delivered an adapted version of the Youth Voice project in terms 3 and 4, 2024. 

Project organisers at Firefly and Sanctuary Point Community Pride Inc said that another significant change has been the increased collaboration between Sanctuary Point Community Pride, Firefly and other community organisations in the Bay & Basin region, who have enthusiastically supported the four Youth Voice projects.

“These relationships continue to strengthen and are ongoing. These projects have brought the community together. Firefly has strengthened its relationship with Vincentia High School and Sanctuary Point Community Pride will work closely with Firefly to continue to grow these connections.

“Firefly’s ability to offer a program that has provided young people with valuable skills and an opportunity to build confidence has created a deeper level of connection between the organisation, young people, their families and the wider community.”

Watch the mini documentary on the Youth Voice program.

Funded through Snow Foundation under the Investing in Rural Community Futures program, the Ulladulla community co-designed a roadmap articulating goals decided by the community, for the community. As part of their roadmapping, Ulladulla IRCF participants identified having strong, respectful relationships and making a commitment to walk alongside First Nations people and organisations as key goals.

With support from Snow Foundation, Walking Together in the Milton Ulladulla District used grant funds from FRRR for the ‘Together We Thrive’ project to organise attendance at the Giiyong Festival, the largest Aboriginal cultural festival on the southeast coast, near Pambula, NSW. Being engaged in an immersive cultural celebration strengthened pride and community connection, and inspired planning further opportunities for deeper cultural participation.

Miribi Bunbal, Ulladulla High School’s youth didgeridoo group, had previously attended a two-day cultural camp with their teacher Hamish Richardson and Aboriginal teacher Moose (Michael Lloyd), gathering foods, making spears, creating art and practicing didgeridoo together. At Giiyong, they played in the didg’ jam session and hugely enjoyed the whole celebration.

First Nations individuals in attendance loved the celebration, with many expressing a desire to reconnect with cultural opportunities.“Coming here and sharing my cultural knowledge again, I’ve realised that it’s been a while since I’ve done that. It has been really good to do it again. I feel like it is time for me to step up into that role again.”

Being immersed in Aboriginal community and cultural celebration was an experience attendees expressed gratitude for, including being able to participate without any financial barriers. Non-Indigenous attendees also shared valuable learnings and self-reflections. “The really powerful and amazing thing for me is this experience of cultural immersion. It’s not just that the dancers and performers are so good and so powerful, but it’s stepping into their world. On the site, you can actually feel the difference in it being owned and run by Aboriginal community, and everything about the day is immersed in their own ways of being and doing things.”

The community has been inspired to build further on these cultural connections, with plans to facilitate members of the girls dance group Bunaan Yandabal and more families being involved in the future. Ulladulla Yarning Mob, Wandarma AECG, and Ulladulla Local Aboriginal Land Council, have expressed hope that something similar will run next year, with additional lead time allowing them to attract even stronger community involvement. 

An increase in partnerships between organisations and a decrease in working in silos has been a key feature of IRCF on the South Coast. Partnerships support has increased capacity and broader service delivery, and led to projects where NFPs are working with business groups to share skillsets and expertise.

A good example is how Shoalhaven Business Chamber (SBC) partnered with local NFPs, with the support of Snow Foundation, providing access to annual SBC membership, helping them improve the way they ‘do business’ and increasing networking opportunities.

Shoalhaven Women’s Resource Group Limited (ROCC) has provided strength-based support services to women in the Shoalhaven for four decades, and offers holistic long-term case management and regular group programs. ROCC’s services foster resilience in, and advocate for, women, facilitating improved social connection, life skills and psycho-social supports.

Through the Investing in Rural Community Future’s program, ROCC established links with SBC. Twelve months later, ROCC was announced as a finalist in the Shoalhaven Business Awards and was thrilled to win the Outstanding Community Organisation award, in recognition of the dedicated work the NFP delivers supporting women.

The awards process required ROCC to demonstrate not only that it provides impactful support to its clients, but also that ROCC business is being run with best practice governance, a sustainable financial strategy, risk management and compliance frameworks, as well as appropriate care for clients, staff and stakeholders.

The successful partnership with SBC helped build the profile and confidence of ROCC, while simultaneously strengthening relationships between SBC, other members and the NFP sector.