Benefit Geelong grants to open soon

BENEFIT Geelong’s next grant round will open next week, with an information session to be held on Monday, February 16 for interested applicants.

The not-for-profit organisation receives revenue from linked customer accounts at six Bendigo Bank branches and distributes the funds through grant rounds.

Applicants’ projects must offer clear public benefit for the community, with focus areas including social capital, community welfare, the environment, health education and culture.

Grants of between $2,000 to $10,000 will be awarded.

Benefit Geelong chair Chris Hickey said he was excited to launch another grant round after giving $470,000 in total to the community since the charities’ inception.

“We are excited to launch another grant round in February and also to bring prospective applicants together to talk about what makes a good grant application at our event.”

“The event will also be a good opportunity for networking between hardworking Geelong charities.”

“A big thank you to Bendigo Bank customers who have ‘linked’ their accounts which enables Benefit Geelong to distribute these important funds to the community.”

Participating Benefit Geelong branches are Torquay, Geelong West, Highton, Waurn Ponds, Ocean Grove and Corio

The impact of the grants in the Barwon region includes $10,000 to Sexual Assault and Family Violence Centre (SAFC) last year with the City of Greater Geelong to provide family violence awareness training to maternal child healthcare nurses.

“With this funding, we hope to train over 80 maternal child health nurses to have better awareness of family violence including the red flags to look out for and how to make meaningful referrals to other support services,” SAFVC chief executive officer Kerriann Campbell-Jones said.

“In our first training session, 100 per cent of participants indicated that they felt confident in implementing the learnings from the training, validating its effectiveness.”

“We have some of the highest rates of family violence in the Barwon region so this funding is very welcomed. Thank you to Benefit Geelong for enabling us to make a difference in the region. We look forward to great results in 2026 as we continue training staff.”

Grant applications will be open until March 27.

The information session will take place at Geelong West Neighbourhood House on Monday, February 16 from 5.30pm to 6.30pm.

For more information, head to benefitgeelong.com.au