About
Council's Community Strengthening Grants Program has been a valuable source of financial support for local events, projects and programs in Golden Plains Shire communities for 26 years. There are two rounds of grants each year, with applications open annually during the months of March and September.
Grants of up to $10,000 are available in four streams:
- The Environment and Sustainability stream offers grants to assist incorporated groups and organisations to undertake environmental and sustainability projects on publicly accessible land within Golden Plains Shire.
- The Creative Community stream is available to assist incorporated groups and organisations to undertake arts and culture projects within Golden Plains Shire that directly benefit the Golden Plains Shire Community.
- The Healthy Active Living stream is available to assist incorporated groups and organisations undertake sport, recreation, health and wellbeing projects that directly benefit the Golden Plains Shire Community.
- The Community Safety stream is available to assist incorporated groups and organisations to undertake projects within Golden Plains Shire which increase the community's capacity, resilience and connection to plan for, rebuild and recover from emergencies or ongoing risks.
How You Can Be Involved
Applications for the first round of the Community Strengthening Grants for 2023 will be open from Wednesday 1 March until 2pm, Friday 31 March, 2023.
To support community groups throughout the application process, Council is running drop-in sessions across the Shire with in-person sessions to be held on:
- Tuesday 7 March from 4 to 6pm at the Bannockburn Cultural Centre, 25-27 High Street, Bannockburn
- Tuesday 21 March from 4 to 6pm at the Well, 19 Heales Street, Smythesdale
An online drop-in session will also be held via Zoom on Tuesday 14 March from 4 to 6pm with a link to be sent to all registrants prior to the commencement of the session.
Groups must match the amount of funding sought, either in cash or through volunteer in-kind contributions, such as volunteer work on the project.
What Happens Next
Once applications are closed, applications will be assessed by the grants panel. Successful applicants will then be notified.