Armstrong Creek groups amongst latest grant recipients

AN ARMSTRONG Creek-based community organisation will now be able to purchase new and improved equipment thanks to the 2021-22 City of Greater Geelong Community Grants Program announced at the end of November.

The Armstrong Creek Boomerang Bags group based at the Armstrong Creek East Community Hub is just one of the 135 local clubs and organisations that will receive financial grants for the 2021-22 round of council-allocated community funds.

Across the region, funding totals range from $260 to $10,000 earmarked for events such as arts projects, festivals, environmental sustainability initiatives, equipment purchases and community-based projects and events.

The Armstrong Creek Boomerang Bags Group will receive a total of $2,000 under the category of environment sustainability for its use of donated fabrics, which reduces the pollution of single use plastics.

The group meets every Wednesday from 9am to midday, using fabrics that would otherwise go directly to landfill and converting them into reusable bags for everyday use.

“These grants will help us considerably with the upgraded equipment we need,” Boomerang Bags member Bernadette Little said.

“We’ve been using donated sewing machines for quite some time, but they are starting to become quite old and clunky, and we aren’t getting through the number of bags that we usually produce.”

The group of seven regular sewers will also be purchasing an iron and an ironing board, which may also help attract new members given the new equipment that will be at the group’s disposal.

City of Greater Geelong councillor Ron Nelson said this round of Community Grants came about because of council finding a niche of groups in the community that were not getting substantial funds.

“These few hundred dollars or few thousand dollars allow many groups to come together and stay together,” Cr Nelson said.

“We are proud to promote these grants and plug in the financial holes with the funds needed that we might have missed before, and these groups are super important to the community as a whole.”

The Armstrong Creek Boomerang Bags group has been operating since 2017 and is fast approaching its 1000th bag milestone.

A second round of applications for Environmental Sustainability grants will open early in 2022 to award the remaining budget of $44,438.

With the addition of the newly allocated $590,000 in COVID recovery grants, the council’s total Community Grants budget for 2021-22 is now just over $4.934 million.

A full list of recipients for this initial group of 2021-22 community grants is available at www.geelongaustralia.com.au/grants.