Grant given to growing group

CHARITY organisation, the Ballarat Foundation has chosen the first group to receive their inaugural Ballarat Innovation Grant.

Picked from six shortlisted candidates, Raven Collective will receive $50,000 in what Ballarat Foundation board chair Wayne Weaire said was the first of more sizeable donations his organisation is distributing.

“A number of years ago we decided we want to substantially fund something rather than just a couple of thousand dollars to allow some really innovative philanthropic work to happen,” he said.

“Raven Collective was something that was innovative in its approach with regard to a group of local people wanting to do something substantial. They simply needed that shoulder-up.

“There was a lot of energy and thought and problem solving already going into what needed to happen to fix the problem of women needing to escape their circumstances.”

Raven Collective was founded last year and aims to offer paid work experience for women from domestic and family violence situations.

Their pilot program is set to run in early October, with the aim of recurring four times per year with an increasing number of participants.

Natalie Illingworth, Raven Collective’s director and founder said the grant will allow the organisation to “kickstart the program.”

“Given we’re still relatively new, this is going to really allow us to establish our foundations and to set up our program to a higher quality,” she said.

“This means we can assist as many women in our region as we possibly can and it allows us to have the maximum social impact.

“It was an incredible surprise to get this. I was speechless. To have an organisation like the Ballarat Foundation to support us and validate our mission is just invaluable.”

The inaugural grant adds to $175,000 worth of donations made by the Ballarat Foundation throughout 2022.