As part of VicHealth's Future Healthy initiative, organisations submitted their ideas on how they would support children, young people and families to get physically active in welcoming and inclusive places.

They also put forward proposals on how people could learn about their own food culture and identity and share this with others and connect through arts, cultural and play-based activities.

They will deliver community-led programs, such as tackling racism through safe and inclusive sport, cooking classes designed to connect young people with their cultural heritage and toy libraries to provide families with access to educational resources for their kids.

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Bendigo Foodshare Youth Projects officer Sam Kane said this funding boost would allow the organisation to bring a number of already established programs out of their pilot stages.

"Over the last 18 months, we used the first round of funding we received to create our Cooking for Change and Cafe for a Day initiatives," he said.

"After finally being able to complete research, we found that our local young population was struggling with the serious challenge of food security.

"So through these two programs, we have been able to work with our youth to teach them healthy ways to cook meals at home and even work in food-oriented environments for a day.

"And now with this new funding we will be able to continue developing these programs and help more young people in the same situations."

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VicHealth will work with JumpStart! partners on capacity and resource building to make their initiative the best it can be.

This includes skill-building exercises, connecting with like-minded leaders, and sharing insights from organisations across communities.

"JumpStart! is all about empowering community-led organisations across the state to create a healthier future," Future Healthy executive manager Sarah Loh said.

"The programs may be different, but they all share the same goal. It's all about supporting young people to reach their full health potential.

"There's something here for everyone. "

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The investment comes as recent findings from VicHealth research indicated that:

Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas congratulated the successful applicants and their community-led programs.

"These 123 organisations are doing important work across Victoria and we look forward to our young people enjoying the benefits from these partnerships," she said.

A second round of JumpStart! is just around the corner, with applications opening August 24.

To sign up or find more information, visit futurehealthy.vichealth.vic.gov.au/organisations/register#join

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