MORE than $2.5 million in community grants have been allocated in 2024-25 to support community groups, businesses, sporting groups, individuals and emergency services.
At the September 23 Council meeting, Council noted that in the latest round of funding, more than $320,000 was allocated to 41 applicants. These included grants as part of the Female Inclusion in Sport Program and ongoing support to Community Based Emergency Services.
In addition, three individual grants, six small grants, nine medium grants, five large grants and one unincorporated group grant were allocated to support programs and events ranging from multicultural celebrations, Christmas celebrations and training for volunteers.
In total, 174 applicants were allocated funding in 2024-25. These include individual, small, medium and large grants that support a range of events and programs, as well as specific program driven grants that support community-based emergency services, seniors clubs and Neighbourhood Houses.
Funding and service agreements are also provided to support large annual community events such as Diwali, Chinese New Year, and the Whittlesea Show, and local support organisations such as Hume Whittlesea Living and Learning Employment Network and Whittlesea Community Connections.
The Community Grant guidelines were also recently updated for 2025-26. Some of the changes include the addition of funding for building projects and capital works (for non-Council owned facilities), changes that support increased access to funding in the sport stream to support people living with a disability and an expansion to the assessment criteria.
For more information on the Community Grants Program visit whittlesea.vic.gov.au/grants