BOISDALE-Briagolong Football-Netball Club is one of 26 recipients to share in this year’s $121,584 Working in Dairy Communities Small Grants program.
It received $5000 for the redevelopment of Boisdale Recreation Reserve’s outdoor entertainment area.
The club hopes the project will strengthen community connectivity by enhancing the venue where locals and visitors can gather for celebrations, recreation and social interactions.
The grants program is run in a partnership between the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal and the Gardiner Dairy Foundation.
Now in their 18th year, it offers up to $5000 to support community-driven projects that strengthen dairy communities through enhancing community infrastructure and local capacity.
Gardiner Dairy Foundation chief executive Dr Clive Noble said this year the program was supporting early childhood and adult education projects, and those that stimulated economic recovery.
“Things have been tough for small towns reliant on dairy,” Dr Noble said.
“These grants will help communities on their renewal journey by supporting projects that will encourage community engagement and social connectedness.”
Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal chief executive Natalie Egleton said the longstanding partnership with Gardiner Dairy Foundation had been so successful because both foundations shared the belief local groups were best placed to know what their communities needed.
“Working with Gardiner Dairy Foundation over the past 18 years, we’ve seen just how passionate and dedicated local not-for-profit groups are in meeting challenges and creating their own opportunities,” she said.
Since the launch of the program in 2002, the Gardiner Dairy Foundation has invested more than $1.8 million in this program and has supported 471 community projects.
