Community groups in bushfire-affected areas of Gippsland can now apply for grants of up to $50,000 to help rebuild and repair their facilities destroyed or damaged in the summer bushfires.
Federal Member for Gippsland Darren Chester is urging eligible volunteer and not-for-profit organisations in East Gippsland and Wellington shires to apply for a share of the $5 million Bushfire
Recovery Grants for Community Facilities program.
“A lot of work has been done over the past six months across Gippsland to help our communities to recover and rebuild after the fires, but there is still plenty to be done,” Mr Chester said.
“We know valuable community facilities were lost during the bushfires. Replacing or repairing what we lost is an important step in the recovery process for our region.
“This is an opportunity to build back better and replace what we had with something better suited to our communities’ needs for now and into the future.”
Applicants can seek funding to build or upgrade facilities, such as kitchens and bathrooms in local halls, or to build new infrastructure such as playgrounds or communal gardens.
Consideration will also be given to projects that help to bring communities together and support community recovery and resilience.
Applicants must demonstrate their project is located in a bushfire-affected area and describe how the bushfires directly impacted on their community.
The community facilities grants program will receive applications for two years and close on June 30, 2022.
The Bushfire Recovery Grants for Community Facilities program is part of the $35 million Community Recovery and Resilience Grants Initiative, which jointly funded by the Federal Government and the State Government. The initiative provides financial support to locally-led and responsive programs that support the recovery of communities in Victoria’s bushfire-affected regions.
For more details, visit https://www.vic.gov.au/bushfire-recovery-grants-community-facilities
