Money for community groups

Horsham district community groups will share in $381,756 as part of an annual municipal grants program.

Horsham Rural City Council is providing community organisations with the money through its Community Grants and Donations Program.

Each year the council allocates money to support community and sporting groups as part of its budget process.

This includes support for groups such as sports clubs, hall committees and kindergartens to help with maintenance and operations as well as grants for specific projects and events.

The council received 97 community-grant applications for specific projects and 70 percent were successful.

Mayor Mark Radford said the number of requests for community grants indicated the popularity and respect for the program within the community.

“The local expenditure resulting from this council support will also provide an important stimulus to our not-for-profit sector during and on the ‘other side’ of the coronavirus,” he said.

“It’s our way of supporting community groups and organisations that contribute to making our municipality better.”

Cr Radford said council staff used a ranking system to assess the applications for 2020-21 before presenting a final list to councillors for consideration.

Criteria included an organisation’s ability to contribute with in-kind support or cash for projects, whether they had previously received a grant and whether projects aligned with council goals and plans.

“The idea of the ranking system is to provide some general guidance for assessors and greater transparency in the assessment process,” he said.

A full list of grant recipients is on Horsham Rural City Council’s website, www.hrcc. vic.gov.au.