{"id":111311,"date":"2025-03-30T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-29T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/?p=111311"},"modified":"2025-03-28T18:59:14","modified_gmt":"2025-03-28T07:59:14","slug":"sparking-community-ideas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/sparking-community-ideas\/","title":{"rendered":"Sparking community ideas"},"content":{"rendered":"

COMMUNITY Bank Buninyong’s SparkTank initiative is returning, with $50,000 of community investment funding available.<\/p>\n

Applications will be open from Monday 14 April until Sunday 8 June, and community groups, organisations and clubs from the greater Ballarat region can apply.<\/p>\n

Community Bank Buninyong’s partnership lead Kelly Bevan said SparkTank is about supporting local, fresh and impactful ideas.<\/p>\n

“We’ve distributed more than $2.25 million into community-driven projects and SparkTank is all about taking that impact to the next level,” she said.<\/p>\n

“It’s an exciting way to engage new groups, support diverse ideas and see first-hand the passion our community has for making a difference.<\/p>\n

“Last year was the first time we ran SparkTank and it was so good, we can’t wait to do it again.”<\/p>\n

At last year’s event, Ballarat Neighbourhood Centre received $6500 and $90 community cash to develop a fruity forest, which will be planted this winter.<\/p>\n

Executive officer Vicki Coltman said the orchard is part of a 10-year urban farming project which aims to help community members access fresh food.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Ballarat Neighbourhood Centre gardening tutor Matt Rowbottom (centre) with participants Tina and Riana Matthews. Photo: MIRIAM LITWIN<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

“This is around creating food security for our community because our community does experience high levels of food insecurity,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Our urban farm would be something that creates employment, training, community connection; it’s a range of things.”<\/p>\n

Ballarat Neighbourhood Centre gardening tutor Matt Rowbottom encouraged community groups to apply for SparkTank.<\/p>\n

“What struck me most was that those who were seeking funding got to find out about the other groups who were also very much deserving of funding,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Often times the groups that are seeking funding will submit an application but be pretty much unaware of who else is out there.<\/p>\n

“It was a great networking opportunity, and we discovered potential opportunities through that for collaboration.”<\/p>\n

Successful applicants will pitch their idea to a panel of judges on Monday 4 August. To apply, visit the SparkTank<\/a> website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

COMMUNITY Bank Buninyong’s SparkTank initiative is returning, with $50,000 of community investment funding available. Applications will be open from Monday 14 April until Sunday 8 June, and community groups, organisations and clubs from the greater Ballarat region can apply. Community Bank Buninyong’s partnership lead Kelly Bevan said SparkTank is about supporting local, fresh and impactful […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":211,"featured_media":111314,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-111311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSparking community ideas - Ballarat Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Apply for SparkTank's $50,000 funding to support local community ideas in the Ballarat region. 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Applications open April 14 to June 8.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/sparking-community-ideas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ballarat Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-29T17:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/03\/Untitled-design-2025-03-26T145121.586.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Miriam Litwin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Miriam Litwin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/sparking-community-ideas\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/sparking-community-ideas\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Miriam Litwin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5d26a285fac71a1bba0f33ca120717d1\"},\"headline\":\"Sparking community ideas\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-29T17:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/sparking-community-ideas\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":339,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/sparking-community-ideas\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/Untitled-design-2025-03-26T145121.586.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/sparking-community-ideas\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/sparking-community-ideas\\\/\",\"name\":\"Sparking community ideas - Ballarat Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/sparking-community-ideas\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/ballarat\\\/news\\\/sparking-community-ideas\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/9\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/Untitled-design-2025-03-26T145121.586.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-29T17:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Apply for SparkTank's $50,000 funding to support local community ideas in the Ballarat region. 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