Castlemaine's West End Hall is one of 67 projects across remote, rural and regional Australia to share in $776,583 in grants thanks to FRRR's Strengthening Rural Communities (SRC) program.
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FRRR - the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal - is a national foundation specifically focused on ensuring the social and economic strength of remote, rural and regional communities.
The foundation has allocated $2000 for a new window in the kitchen of the West End Hall.
The new window will increase the comfort of hall users and lower greenhouse gas emissions by installing double glazed windows that will moderate the temperature inside the View Street public hall.
FRRR's unique model connects common purposes and investment with locally prioritised needs, to create communities that are vital and resilient.
Since FRRR's start in 2000, it has delivered nearly $135 million to more than 12,000 projects.
These projects are grassroots initiatives run by organisations led by local people that will strengthen their communities and have direct benefits for those living in them.
In this round of funding, 26 of the projects receiving funding support ongoing recovery from the 2019/20 Black Summer bushfires.
There are also 41 projects being funded through the Small and Vital stream of the SRC program, which will share in a total of $332,031.
Jill Karena, Place Portfolio Lead at FRRR, said a noticeable trend emerged in this latest round of applications.
"Interestingly, we saw a strong interest for community gardens in this round," she said.
"With the cost of living rising on top of the food shortages that are happening as a result of the pandemic and natural disasters like drought and floods, there are growing concerns in rural areas about food security and the lack of access to nutritious, affordable food.
"This is why flexible programs like SRC are crucial.
"The funding from this program can be used where community leaders see the greatest need.
"Our climate and our economy are rapidly evolving and these grants can be used to support a broad range of community-led, grassroots initiatives that are helping to address very current issues in real time," Ms Karena said.
The SRC program is collaboratively supported by many generous donors, which are acknowledged on FRRR's website.
This program always accepts applications and thanks to recent support from the Australian government, there is now a COVID-recovery stream - Rebuilding Rural Communities.
More information about the SRC program is available at www.frrr.org.au/src.
To support grants like this through FRRR, make a tax-deductible donation at frrr.org.au/giving/.
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