Bank sparks groups’ projects

REPRESENTATIVES from ten local organisations pitched projects in front of a live audience this week, with the opportunity to see their initiatives come to life with community funding.

Fifty thousand dollars was up for grabs for participants as part of Community Bank Buninyong’s first-ever SparkTank event, with a packed gallery gathering into Buninyong Town Hall on Tuesday night to witness the proceedings.

Attendees were invited have an input, voting on their favourite pitch with banking coupons which added to the cash given to the groups.

The Leigh Catchment Group received $10,000 and $320 from community for a trailer and tools to transport trees for planting, while Nascent group Babies Above was the last in the lineup to receive their giant cheque, with $10,000 and $580 to deliver personalised boxes for Ballarat hospitals for families who’ve lost their babies.

Community Bank Buninyong manager Randall Dreger was one of three judges.

“We’ve had the initial look at all the applicants done by the committee so we knew who our finalists were and could be confident their presentations were all going to be of a really great quality.

“We looked at which projects have that merit and broader impact to the community. We also looked at sustainability and is this project going to go ahead even if we don’t give them the full funding.

“We’ve looked at all those factors and obviously the presentations as well.” Heartbeat Victoria Ballarat Branch received $1500 and $120 in community votes to deliver cardiac lived experience volunteer training, while York St Church of Christ Reverse Advent Calendars were given $1500 and $160.

Ballarat Pony Club were handed $1500 and $330 to build a dedicated manure pits at their grounds, while the Ballarat Police and Citizens Youth Club were supported to deliver their youth leadership program with $1500 and $350.

Bunanyung Landscape Alliance took home $4500 and $90 to develop an EcoHub website, and Buninyong Primary School got $1600 and $590 to build a greenhouse for their Ready, Set, Grow program.

Ballarat Neighbourhood Centre received $6500 and $90 community cash to develop a permaculture-based edible forest, while the Ballarat Centre Against Sexual Assault were given $7000 and $110 to build a therapeutic garden at their Sebastopol site.

“Tonight has been massively beneficial in networking, and also it’s extremely impactful for us in our grief period to see we aren’t alone and see this impact in the community,” said Babies Above co-founder Maddison Hutchison. “All six of us who’ve started this have experienced very different losses ourselves, from 20 weeks all the way up to term so the plan with the boxes is to curate them as much as we can to offer a personalised experience.

“We all felt at some capacity, failed by our healthcare system and weren’t given proper support so our main focus is to bridge that gap.”

Committee for Ballarat chair George Fong and workplace psychologist Ellen Jackson were also on the judging panel.