{"id":107709,"date":"2025-09-15T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/?p=107709"},"modified":"2025-09-11T18:07:46","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T08:07:46","slug":"christmas-meal-grants-open-to-groups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/christmas-meal-grants-open-to-groups\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas meal grants open to groups"},"content":{"rendered":"

ELIGIBLE local community groups have been invited by the City of Greater Bendigo to apply for a Community Festive Season Meals grant to help them host festive meal events or provide food relief hampers for distribution during the December Christmas and New Year period.<\/p>\n

To qualify for the $2000 grant, groups must be a registered legal entity, such as an incorporated association, however informal groups or individuals can also apply through a supporting organisation.<\/p>\n

The grants are aimed at supporting a range of small, local activities across Greater Bendigo between Monday 1 and Wednesday 31 December.<\/p>\n

Greater Bendigo mayor Cr Andrea Metcalf said community meal events held at Christmas and throughout the holiday season are consistently well attended and provide connection and companionship to those experiencing disadvantage or social isolation.<\/p>\n

“In Greater Bendigo, we’re fortunate to have wonderful community groups that support residents who may not have others to celebrate with during the festive season,” she said.<\/p>\n

“This support would not be possible without the commitment of volunteers and local businesses.<\/p>\n

“This year, we’ve seen how the cost of living is affecting many people and we hope these grants will help bridge a gap at a time when many other supports are unavailable.”<\/p>\n

Applications are now open and will close at 3pm on Wednesday 24 September.<\/p>\n

If your group is interested in applying for a grant, please contact a City Grants Officer via email at grants@bendigo.vic.gov.au<\/a> or by phone on 1300 002 642.<\/p>\n

To apply directly, visit the COGB website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ELIGIBLE local community groups have been invited by the City of Greater Bendigo to apply for a Community Festive Season Meals grant to help them host festive meal events or provide food relief hampers for distribution during the December Christmas and New Year period. To qualify for the $2000 grant, groups must be a registered […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":187,"featured_media":107367,"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-107709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nChristmas meal grants open to groups - Bendigo Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Eligible community groups in Greater Bendigo can apply for a Christmas meal grant. Applications close on September 24. Apply for a $2000 grant to help fund festive events.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/christmas-meal-grants-open-to-groups\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Christmas meal grants open to groups - Bendigo Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Eligible community groups in Greater Bendigo can apply for a Christmas meal grant. Applications close on September 24. Apply for a $2000 grant to help fund festive events.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/christmas-meal-grants-open-to-groups\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Bendigo Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-14T18:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2025\/08\/Untitled-design-98.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=\"Adam Carswell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Adam Carswell\" \/>\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\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/christmas-meal-grants-open-to-groups\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/christmas-meal-grants-open-to-groups\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Adam Carswell\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/adf4371b5a9ae0b61f7839c29319f35c\"},\"headline\":\"Christmas meal grants open to groups\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-14T18:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/christmas-meal-grants-open-to-groups\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":255,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/christmas-meal-grants-open-to-groups\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/Untitled-design-98.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/christmas-meal-grants-open-to-groups\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/christmas-meal-grants-open-to-groups\\\/\",\"name\":\"Christmas meal grants open to groups - Bendigo Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/christmas-meal-grants-open-to-groups\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/christmas-meal-grants-open-to-groups\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/Untitled-design-98.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-14T18:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Eligible community groups in Greater Bendigo can apply for a Christmas meal grant. Applications close on September 24. Apply for a $2000 grant to help fund festive events.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/christmas-meal-grants-open-to-groups\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/christmas-meal-grants-open-to-groups\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/christmas-meal-grants-open-to-groups\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/Untitled-design-98.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/Untitled-design-98.png\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"Festive cheer: COGB Mayor Cr Andrea Metcalf said this year the cost of living is affecting many people and it\u2019s hoped the grants will help bridge a gap at a time when many other supports are unavailable. Photo: FILE\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/news\\\/christmas-meal-grants-open-to-groups\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Christmas meal grants open to groups\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/\",\"name\":\"Bendigo Times\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Bendigo Times\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/BDT-logo-masthead-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/24\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/BDT-logo-masthead-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":491,\"caption\":\"Bendigo Times\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/adf4371b5a9ae0b61f7839c29319f35c\",\"name\":\"Adam Carswell\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bendigotimes\\\/author\\\/adamcarswell\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Christmas meal grants open to groups - Bendigo Times","description":"Eligible community groups in Greater Bendigo can apply for a Christmas meal grant. Applications close on September 24. Apply for a $2000 grant to help fund festive events.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/christmas-meal-grants-open-to-groups\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Christmas meal grants open to groups - Bendigo Times","og_description":"Eligible community groups in Greater Bendigo can apply for a Christmas meal grant. Applications close on September 24. Apply for a $2000 grant to help fund festive events.","og_url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/christmas-meal-grants-open-to-groups\/","og_site_name":"Bendigo Times","article_published_time":"2025-09-14T18:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2025\/08\/Untitled-design-98.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Adam Carswell","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Adam Carswell","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/christmas-meal-grants-open-to-groups\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/christmas-meal-grants-open-to-groups\/"},"author":{"name":"Adam Carswell","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#\/schema\/person\/adf4371b5a9ae0b61f7839c29319f35c"},"headline":"Christmas meal grants open to groups","datePublished":"2025-09-14T18:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/christmas-meal-grants-open-to-groups\/"},"wordCount":255,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/christmas-meal-grants-open-to-groups\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2025\/08\/Untitled-design-98.png","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/christmas-meal-grants-open-to-groups\/","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/christmas-meal-grants-open-to-groups\/","name":"Christmas meal grants open to groups - Bendigo Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/christmas-meal-grants-open-to-groups\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/christmas-meal-grants-open-to-groups\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2025\/08\/Untitled-design-98.png","datePublished":"2025-09-14T18:00:00+00:00","description":"Eligible community groups in Greater Bendigo can apply for a Christmas meal grant. Applications close on September 24. Apply for a $2000 grant to help fund festive events.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/christmas-meal-grants-open-to-groups\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/christmas-meal-grants-open-to-groups\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/christmas-meal-grants-open-to-groups\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2025\/08\/Untitled-design-98.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2025\/08\/Untitled-design-98.png","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"Festive cheer: COGB Mayor Cr Andrea Metcalf said this year the cost of living is affecting many people and it\u2019s hoped the grants will help bridge a gap at a time when many other supports are unavailable. Photo: FILE"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/news\/christmas-meal-grants-open-to-groups\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Christmas meal grants open to groups"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/","name":"Bendigo Times","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#organization","name":"Bendigo Times","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2021\/02\/BDT-logo-masthead-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2021\/02\/BDT-logo-masthead-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":491,"caption":"Bendigo Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/#\/schema\/person\/adf4371b5a9ae0b61f7839c29319f35c","name":"Adam Carswell","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/author\/adamcarswell\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/187"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107709"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bendigotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=107709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}