A NEW community hub for charities and volunteers will be established in central Ballarat.<\/p>\n
The hub will be built at the Ballarat Foundation\u2019s existing Chatham House premises on Lydiard Street, and will see the dated building interior demolished and recreated into \u201cmodern, smart working spaces and meeting rooms,\u201d with a new lift and accessible entrance to be built too.<\/p>\n
Ballarat Foundation chair Wayne Weaire welcomed the news.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Ballarat Foundation\u2019s role as a philanthropic leader enabling better community outcomes is central to the vision to redevelop Chatham House and encourage collaborative local responses to need,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Member for Wendouree Juliana Addison said the new space has been made possible by a State Government grant of just over $1 million from the Regional Infrastructure Fund.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy upgrading their building and establishing a volunteer hub, this funding will support the Ballarat Foundation and other local organisations to do even more for our community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s expected the hub will reduce costs for volunteers of community and not-for-profit organisations.<\/p>\n
According to Member for Buninyong, Michaela Settle, the co-location of different services within the hub could increase the \u201coutreach and responsiveness\u201d of the local organisations.<\/p>\n
\u201cBallarat\u2019s not-for-profit and volunteer organisations do so much every day to help our local community and a new modern hub in the centre of town will mean they do so much more,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A NEW community hub for charities and volunteers will be established in central Ballarat. The hub will be built at the Ballarat Foundation\u2019s existing Chatham House premises on Lydiard Street, and will see the dated building interior demolished and recreated into \u201cmodern, smart working spaces and meeting rooms,\u201d with a new lift and accessible entrance […]<\/p>\n