Grants power up community projects

WANGALA Primary School will create a “yarning circle” on its grounds thanks to the latest round of grants from EnergyAustralia.

Announced last week, the more than $21,000 in grants will go to four community projects across the Geelong region.

At Wangala Primary School, located in Belmont, the $2,500 grant will be folded into the school’s Hands-on Learning program that assists pupils to develop the skills and abilities they need to succeed in life, such as collaborating, problem-solving, communication and showing resilience and empathy.

According to the application, the school’s construction team are working on developing the yarning circle, which will be constructed with the pupils’ assistance, beneath a canopy of trees.

The space, which will also include a fire pit, will be used as a place to come together and talk, something the school does on a daily basis to discuss behaviours, life situations and strategies for when things do not go as planned.

The other three recipents in Geelong are Soroptimist International of Geelong, Filipino Australian Friendship Association of Geelong and Geelong Youth Engagement.

EnergyAustralia’s Geelong Community Grants program supports projects and initiatives from Geelong and the surrounding region that are focused on improving education, social inclusion, regional sport and recreation.

“EnergyAustralia is a major employer in the region. We employ hundreds of people who live in Geelong and the surrounding areas. These grants are a favourite of everyone here, enabling us to support and connect with the community where we live and work,” EnergyAustralia Geelong site administrator Claudia Gray said.

“I’m excited that the funds we’ve provided to Geelong Youth Engagement will go towards physically training young people so they can tackle the Kokoda trail. I took part in a Geelong Youth Engagement program a decade ago. It helped me enormously and changed the direction of my life.”

The funding provided to Soroptimist International of Geelong will go towards a literacy and numeracy project for 200 Geelong prep students.

Since its inception, EnergyAustralia’s Geelong Community Grants program has distributed about $100,000 to local organisations.

EnergyAustralia employees are also each given two paid volunteering days per year, and the Geelong contact centre team has already contributed more than 200 volunteer hours in 2022 to support local causes.