THE current round of Southern Grampians Shire Council (SGSC) Community Partnership Grants has awarded a long list of projects and initiatives much-needed funding to move ahead with their work.

With infrastructure upgrades such as painting and lighting, along with seating replacements and support of various community festivals, SGSC approved of the funding last week at the September council meeting with amounts between $1500 and $15,000.

SGSC chief executive, Tony Doyle, said there was a record number of applications and said “it certainly made the process very challenging” of deciding who to award funding to.

Mr Doyle said he was pleased with the level of engagement the community had with the program and was happy with the representations to various categories such as tourism and events, community infrastructure, community strengthening and heritage.

Among the recipients was the community mentoring organisation, Standing Tall who were awarded $10,000 towards a conference called ‘Valuing Our Volunteers, Enriching Our Community’.

Standing Tall program manager, Dee Barrera, said she was thrilled they could build on the conference they held for mentors earlier this year.

“With the success of this year’s conference we decided to expand it next year to make it a little bit more accessible to all volunteers,” she said.

“Because the information we were able to provide and the guest speakers we thought would be valuable to any volunteer.

“We know lots of organisations don’t necessarily have the capacity to host events like this for their volunteers.

“So that was why we applied for the grant, because it is about valuing our volunteers and enriching the community because all the volunteers that get to participate in something like this feel valued, and feel loved, and they understand that we are all grateful for their help and our organisations wouldn’t exist without them.”

She said she was looking forward to National Volunteer Week in May 2024 when the next conference would be held and was thankful to the Shire for making the process of applying for a grant a smooth one.

“(We’re) so grateful as it allows us to do something and give back to the community,” Ms Barrera said.

“Obviously, without this kind of funding, we have to ask for donations and it just makes it easier to have a grant offered from Council.”

Better Together Festival received $4682 towards running their Botanic Gardens event in early December as they vie to raise funding to expand on the accessibility of playground equipment for children with a disability at Lakes Edge.

The family-friendly event already has substantial community support with a wide range of artists and entertainment sure to offer several hours of fun and enjoyment on a Saturday afternoon and evening.

All proceeds will be going directly to the playground fund and organisers have already been talking with council about both the event and the potential look and location of new equipment to augment the existing facility.

Committee member, Nicole Douglass, said the grant was very welcome and they had organised “lots of live music, children’s activities (and) food vendors” and considered it an important objective to see all local children to have an opportunity to play on good facilities, especially with her own child having cerebral palsy.

“Everyone knows someone,” she said.

“It’s very personal to us.”

Coleraine P & A Society president, Jessica Sutherland said the funding they received was a welcome boost for the town’s upcoming show in November.

“The Coleraine P & A Society is delighted to receive $2400 to go towards preparation for the Annual Show,” she said.

“Due to pandemics and floods, this is our first show since 2019 and funds are tight. This grant will help towards the schedule printing costs, fees and publicity.

“A hard-working committee is aiming at producing a bigger, brighter and slightly different show for 2023.”

* Sport grant recipients in Saturday’s paper *