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.

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.

Mycelia Renewables is a social enterprise focused on supporting and enabling regenerative economy initiatives with Traditional Owners, rural businesses and regional communities, specifically in the areas of cultural and environmental governance and a fair transition to renewable energy.

Mycelia’s work on the ground to date is diverse and their value is far reaching, focussed on delivering tangible sustainability outcomes with communities, and aimed at strengthening and empowering through a service model of cooperative engagement, knowledge sharing, deep listening and co-design.

Mycelia has two central operations:

1. Co-designing and owning or co-owning renewable energy projects with communities and small to medium enterprises (SMEs), to increase the amount of affordable renewable energy and to develop an independent income stream for Mycelia’s charitable purposes
2. Supporting communities and SMEs to design and implement regenerative economy projects through their unique services at pro bono, low or full fee rates

Through an FRRR Not-For-Profit Fundraising Account, to date Mycelia has raised more than $70,000 to focus on engaging with local communities and SME’s across Victoria to co-design and implement renewable energy policies and strategies.

The group also created the Mycelia Energy Collective, an initiative which enables households and businesses with and without solar and batteries to share renewable energy through The People’s Grid. Currently supported by 104members, this has been their main focus of late. Mycelia is seeking additional funding to boost organisational capacity over the next 2-3 years to fast track the work being done to hone the Mycelia Energy Collective model to a scale that ensures a sustainable revenue stream. They are also developing partnerships with communities that wish to replicate the model.

In addition to further developing the Collective offerings, Mycelia would like to engage an organisation that can measure and report on the different benefits of the Mycelia Energy Collective, specifically social impact measurements through a community-wealth building lens to clearly demonstrate the value to other communities and future funders.

The work that Mycelia is doing closely aligns to many of FRRR’s purposes and objectives and is a good example of how FRRR can support organisations and communities to raise funds that align to our vision to enhance the long-term vitality and sustainability of remote and rural communities across the country. If you’d like to support them, you can do so via their Fundraising Account.

If your group has a similar project, contact Jo Kemp to explore whether a Fundraising Account could help your organisation achieve its goals.

Environs Kimberley (EK) is the peak not-for-profit environmental organisation for the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia. Since 1996 EK has been dedicated to conserving and protecting the Kimberley’s natural, environmental, and cultural values. EK has supported and coordinated cultural-natural resource management (CNRM) projects in the region since 2007.  

EK collaborates respectfully and over the long term with Aboriginal rangers and their communities, First Nations groups, community groups, government, and scientists to apply traditional knowledge and the best scientific methods to CNRM projects including: invasive species and fire management; ecosystem restoration, threatened species, ecological survey, and monitoring; eco-cultural documentation and education.

EK’s Kimberley Community Seedbank (KCS) project was established in 2015 and EK has been working to develop the Seedbank into a sustainable social enterprise that furthers the conservation and protection of the Kimberley’s incredible natural and cultural values. In 2020, Environs Kimberley received a Strengthen Rural Communities (SRC) grant of $24,995, thanks to John T Reid Charitable Trusts, as funding towards Strengthening the Kimberley Community Seedbank: a sustainable social enterprise project.

A First Nations-led bush resource industry can support Aboriginal communities across the Kimberley to participate in economic development on their own terms and to undertake meaningful and sustainable work on Country.  As a backdrop to this, the Australian bush resource industry has seen enormous growth over the past few decades, but despite this, a national survey by Bushfood Sensations (2019) found only 1% of the industry was led by First Nations people.

Hence, EK’s Sustainable Communities team has worked to build capacity for First Nations people to engage in and lead a Kimberley native plant resource industry. EK worked with four ranger groups to co-design business plans and complementary industry resources for two emerging social enterprises: Kimberley Seeds, and Wattleseed Collective where EK has supported Aboriginal collectors to develop skills in the exciting bush food and restoration industries to produce sustainable, socially responsible products.

The grant funded Environs Kimberley project management, co-design workshops, and the development of viable business models. EK delivered training to communities and ranger groups across the West Kimberley and established seed storage, roasting and cleaning infrastructure.

The Bardi Jawi Oorany Rangers, Karajarri Rangers, Nyangumarta Rangers, Yawuru Country Managers and Yiriman Women’s Bush Enterprise’s provided in-kind time and vehicle use for seed collection. EK provided in-kind time, seedbank and seed collecting equipment and coordinated volunteer activities. EK supported groups to develop their own business plans, financial models, packaging, marketing materials and a sales strategy.

EK coordinated the first pilot for commercial scale harvesting of wattleseed in 2022. The harvest saw the Wattleseed Collective gather and clean 40 kgs of (mostly) soap wattle (Acacia colei). This amazing effort resulted in sufficient product to enable Environs Kimberley to enter a product development phase and begin a process of securing access to markets for the coming year’s collections.

EK developed resources including a business plan template, a wattleseed harvesting guide, and wattleseed cleaning guide which are now available to share across the network of Kimberley-based Aboriginal-led businesses and individuals.

First Nations ranger programs are major employers in remote communities.  By continuing to increase the capacity of the rangers in seed collection and social enterprise development, and working with other community members, Environs Kimberley is backing stronger communities to engage in the development of local, sustainable, conservation and cultural economies.