Feedback sought on grants program

THE City of Greater Bendigo is asking members of the community to complete a survey as it reviews its community grants policy and program.

Health and wellbeing director Vicky Mason said the current program has been in place since 2018 and it’s important to regularly review the policy to make sure it continues to meet community needs.

“The City’s community grants are greatly valued by the many groups, clubs and organisations who apply for funding through the program to undertake a range of important community projects,” she said.

“Between 2018 and the end of 2020, the City processed 564 successful grant applications, totalling $2.2 million.

“Over $188,000 was granted to community organisations to assist with supporting service delivery during the worst times of the pandemic in 2020.”

Community grants are offered in a range of categories including small, medium, large, community group essentials grants, great ideas grants and the Bendigo Town Hall community use subsidy program.

“Since April 2020 the City has also had two temporary categories of grants to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, the COVID-19 Essentials Grants, April to June 2020, and the Community Group Reactivation Grants, November 2020 until June 2021,” Ms Mason said.

One recipient of a large grant from the municipality this year was the Bendigo Volunteer Resource Centre.

Manager Helen Yorston said the just under $25,000 worth of funding helped the group recover after COVID-19 “decimated” the volunteering sector.

“The money was used to roll out our road to recovery program in supporting volunteer community organisations,” she said.

“We thought about how we can re-engage volunteers again but also looked at the programs to decide how we can modernise them with new residents coming to town.”

The City’s survey asks for feedback on how the grants program is delivered and how suitable the categories and money amounts are.

For details on the survey visit letstalkgreaterbendigo.com.au.