2015 community grants are open

Eligible community groups are invited to apply for grants in three areas, Arts and Heritage Development, Community Development and Festival and Events.

Applications close 14 July and must be submitted online at

http://yarraranges.smartygrants.com.au.

Information sessions and a grant writing workshop are being held in this month.

Community members can come along to find out about the grant selection criteria and the different grant categories.

Information session dates:
Healesville– 4 June, 6.00pm-7.00pm
Lilydale– 5 June, 6.00pm-7.00pm
Yarra Junction– 11 June, 6.00pm-7.00pm
Monbulk– 12 June, 6.00pm-7.00pm

Grant writing workshop:

Lilydale – 23 June, 6.00pm-7.30pm
Bookings are essential, register via www.yarraranges.vic.gov.au or call Jackie Elward on
1300 368 333.

If you’re interested in talking to an officer about your potential project I’d encourage you to talk to:

Community Development Grants – Jackie Elward
Arts and Heritage Development Grants - Megan Rowland
Festivals and Events Grants - Karen Meuleman
on phone: 1300 368 333

There's been some terrific projects funded out of this program, I'd encourage you to participate if you've been working on a community development project.

got a great community project idea? - the local grants expo is coming

Are you a Yarra Ranges resident or organisation with a great community project or idea?

Are you keen to learn about what local grants and funding are available and how to apply?

Then the free Local Grants Expo is for you.

When: Wednesday 30 April

Drop in from -  3pm to 8 pm
Where: at the Mooroolbark Community Centre, 125 Brice Ave, Mooroolbark
What:
Displays
Information
Top Tips Mini Seminars
Refreshments

Come in for a chat, pick up some information or catch a mini seminar and meet with local grant makers from government, business, community and the philanthropic sector.

You can get further information at www.yarraranges.vic.gov.au/communitytraining 

selbyfest 2014, community at its best

Congratulations to organisers of the 2014 Selbyfest, a great celebration of all that is community in the hills. Centered around Selby Community House and the Minak Reserve, one of the shire's top 10% of high biodiversity reserves.

That's the Kettle TeaHouse behind me (in the dome),
a lush space full of soft furnishings, yummy cakes and
of course tea, a wonderful addition to Selbyfest.

The day was jam packed with plenty of activities, showcasing the broad range of talented hills folk. There was an extraordinary range of community stalls, highlighting the many activities going on locally, whether it be arts, landcare, fashion, wild animals, there was something for everyone at Selbyfest.



Selby Primary provided great entertainment, their rendition
of Eye of the Tiger was terrific,



Local brigade, Selby CFA, were well represented, providing traffic management and car parking coordination and of course the sausage sizzle, they report a good day out with 400 snags sold on the day. There was plenty of food to choose from and it was great to see many local food businesses selling their wares at Selbyfest.

Captain Koala made an appearance - thanks
Selby CFA!

Great to see local community radio station 3MDR there, with a live broadcast going all day as well as an exhibitor stall to fly the 3MDR flag.

Hugs for Kids (in Belgrave) kicked off the fashion parade,
Bec doing some rousting of her models. Hugs for Kids
prides itself and unique, handmade and locally made products.

The fashion parade is one of the Selbyfest highlights and I was delighted to be able to MC this year's parade once again. I was also very pleased to give special recognition to Tracey Van Vloten, Selby Community House Program Coordinator, she's been the driving force behind the organisation of Selbyfest and in accepting her gift she said "it takes a village".

The Limerence models strut their stuff, Limerence
is located in Belgrave and stock all Australian made
fashion and art. It's great to see this local business
participate in Selbyfest. The shoes were supplied by
new local business in Upwey, Shoe Boutique.

Selbyfest is a great example of community, my thanks to all the volunteers who make it happen, they do it freely and are very committed to the local community. Yarra Ranges Council is proud to be able to support Selbyfest through our Community Festivals grant program.

In an impromptu catwalk, Tracey struts her stuff and
her gift for her outstanding efforts coordinating
Selbyfest.

The Voicemob performance was captivating,
bringing together a number of hills choirs, this is the
4th official flashmob performance of Voicemob, a project
aimed at encouraging flashmob signing, singing and dancing.

 

grants for community set

report from the roundtable - 10 dec

It's always great to see the full range of applications for funding across Yarra Ranges, it's a diverse and active Shire and there's many events, programs and activities on the calendar.

Yarra Ranges Council provides funding towards three different streams, Community Development, Arts & Heritage Development and Festivals & Events. This year's funding saw a record number of applications but sadly not all of them can be funded. I'll be pushing for an increase in the pool of funding available in our next budget to try and get more capacity to fund more applications.

I'm delighted to announce that the following local applications received funding.

• Belgrave Farmers Market for feasibility $4,000
• Women's Federation for World Peace Bridge of Peace Sisterhood Project $1,000
• 3MDR Community Radio for Community Outlook, broadcasting local community stories and info $3,000
• Sherbrooke Art Society for the Australia Wild Project $4,000
• Monbulk Care Network for the Art class and show $3,000
• Tiffaney Bishop Collective for tbC coLAB 2014 $10,000
• Dandenong Ranges Music Council for Musical Theatre with Attitude $7,000
• Ruccis Circus for the Circus Festival $5,000
• Belgrave South Community House for Celebrating International Day for People with a Disability $2,500
• Upwey Billy Cart Races $3,000
• BCAP for the End of the Line Festival $7,500
• Selbyfest $7,500
• Dandenong Ranges Tourism for Autumn Authors $5,000
• BCAP for the Belgrave Lantern Parade $10,000
• (note Belgrave Survival Day 2014 has already been funded as part of the funding review transitionary arrangements)

Congratulations to all the recipients, looks like it's going to be another great year of community activities and festivals.

belgrave abuzz with buskers

Local singer/songwriter Ben Kelly and myself were
judges for one of the solo stages. We were treated to
a great array of busking performances throughout the
day and had great fun, the spirit of the day was terrific. 

I had a great time over the weekend at the Belgrave Buskers Festival.

The event, held for the second time, was organised by the Belgrave Traders Association with the assistance of a Shire of Yarra Ranges community grant. 

Busking spots were dotted throughout the town, so buskers
could put their hat down to drum up trade.

The traders would like the festival to become known as the festival that marks the last weekend of summer, and at 33 degrees, the weather was certainly summery.

Here I am pictured with Justine Walsh, local spoken word artist.
Justine won the Darren Jones Encouragement  Award, an award
given to the artist recognised with great potential who could
reap great rewards from encouragement.

Onlookers were treated to an enormous array of buskers from solos, duos, groups, youth and primary aged performers.

Sean Carroll provided great entertainment with a
mix of covers and originals, our last performer for the
day, he was working hard in the heat. Sean took out
second prize in the solo category.

The streets were alive with music and people enjoying the sights and sounds of Belgrave. Community Radio station 3MDR (97.1) provided a live broadcast of the day as well. The entertainment continued into the night with Belgrave's live music venues providing performance time for buskers.

This yarn bombed cherry tree from the End of the Line Festival
provided another busking spot for aspiring performers.

There was drumming in the park and spoken word performance, To the ends of the 'Verse, as well. I'm really pleased to learn that the spoken word event will become a regular monthly event in Belgrave, thanks to Chocolate Sensation for the venue and Justine Walsh for her commitment to see it happen.

Jared Duffy covered some classic rock songs as part
of his perfomance, he took out an encouragement award
for his efforts.

I must particularly thank Belgrave Trader's Association coordinator, Marina Dennis. Marina did an amazing job pulling the event together, her dedication and passion for the arts in the region is a wonderful asset for the community.

The youth stage saw some great entertainment from those
young budding performers in our community.

I'm already looking forward to next year's festival!

The undercroft of the stables at Earthly Pleasures provided
a great stage for duos.

Winners were:
Primary (under 11s)
1st Anya    2nd Heath
Youth (12 to 16 years)
1st Jack   2nd Justin
Solo (open age) Stage 1
1st Mel Wilkinson
2nd Sean Carroll
Encouragement awards to Rudy the One Man Band and Jared Duffy
Solo (open age) Stage 2
1st Sally Carter
2nd Glenn Scolyer
Encouragement awards to Ella Ruby and Carol McCoy
Duo (open age)
1st Kate Crowley and Michael Waugh
2nd Kaitlin Marie Duo
Group (open age)
1st D'caf
2nd Jakk's Azimuth
Encouragement awards to River Tribe and Melting Pot
Darren Jones Encouragement Award
Justine Walsh

Congratulations to you all and to organisers for a great day in Belgrave.



This cherry tree was yarn bombed just in time for the festival,
thanks to Danni from Walk in Wardrobe.

community grants awards night

What a terrific night tonight at the Mooroolbark Community Centre. Tonight was the Grants for Community Awards night and it was wonderful to celebrate the diversity of projects successful for shire funding through our Community Grants program.

Some of the Lyster Ward Community Grant recipients.
From left to right: Sue Clisby - Dandenong Ranges
Music Council, Cr Samantha Dunn - Lyster Ward,
Marina Dennis - Belgrave Buskers Festival, Dave
Millar - Selbyfest and Renate Crow - Belgrave
Lantern Parade.

I was delighted to be able to personally hand out certificates to successful applicants from the Lyster Ward.

Local artist, Pauline Molenaar, Kallista Kindergarten Director
Lu-Ann Randall and Cr Samantha Dunn - Lyster Ward.
Kallista Kindergarten are very excited about their
artist in residence project to develop a community mosaic.

I was impressed by the breadth of projects being undertaken in 2012/13 throughout the hills. It's a place a great creativity and this is reflected in the grants awarded.

Peter McIlwain is the creative behind Imaginary Ornithology,
a project that centres on computer generated sound art
that includes software models of birds. These models
 create a range of bird sounds but have the curious property

that none of the sounds exist in the real world.

Lyster Ward recipients include:

• Dandenong Ranges Music Council - Sunnysiders, a celebration in Kallista
• Pocket Bonfire - Three One Six Oh! Film Festival no. 8
• Belgrave Community Arts Partnership - Belgrave Lantern Parade
• Belgrave Trader's Association - Belgrave Buskers' Festival
• Selby Community House - Selbyfest
• Belgrave Survival Day - Belgrave Survival Day 2012
• Southern Dandenongs Landcare Group - Awesome Ornithoryhynkids Festival 2012
• Peter McIlwain - Imaginary Ornithology
• Kallista Kindergarten - Kallista Kinder Art Incubator Project
• Kierea Brew Kurec - Belgrave Temporary Art Gallery

I look forward to seeing this fabulous range of community projects develop to provide wonderful opportunities for people in the Dandenongs.

making history in belgrave

My congratulations go to the team at BRAG for their tireless work in seeing the Belgrave Self Guided Historical Walking Tour come to fruition.


Cr Samantha Dunn with the BRAG team and the Year 9s
from Sherbrooke Community School outside one of
Belgrave's most iconic heritage buildings, Jorgensen House,
now trading as Earthly Pleasures Organic Cafe.

A project in the making for some years, it was terrific to share the inaugural walk with the Year 9's from Sherbrooke Community School as well as Liz and Ian from BRAG and Elaine from the Southern Sherbrooke Historical Society.



Students learnt about the history of Belgrave and
gained a greater insight into the life in this once
burgeoning township in the heart of the Dandenongs.
This site (the current Puffing Billy Cafe) was the
Tarax Bar, which operated for over 20 years
providing a social place for teenagers of the day.

Funded through a Yarra Ranges Council Community Grant in 2011 as well as funding from the state government and the Belgrave Trader's Association, the team at BRAG have been able to design and install 16 plaques throughout Belgrave, complete with guide, to celebrate and rediscover the history of the town.

Students learnt about our two iconic heritage listed buildings, Jorgensen House (now Earthly Pleasures Cafe) and the Cameo Theatre, still with its original art deco light fittings in cinema 1, as well as numerous other significant sites in Belgrave. There was also plenty of stories about the founding families of the region.



Elaine from the Southern Sherbrooke Historical Society
moved into the area in the 50's. She had some great
insights into how the town had developed with stories
of some of the key characters who played a major
part in the development of Belgrave.

The Self Guided Historical Walking Tour Guide will be available at various outlets in Belgrave as well the Tourist Information Centre in Upper Ferntree Gully. It's a great way to learn more about Belgrave at your own leisurely pace.  

community grants night at yarra ranges

It was wonderful to join with my colleagues at the Yarra Ranges Community Grants Awards night. Community members and organisations from across the shire came together to receive their grants for an amazing range of projects.

Pictured here with myself are some of the community grant recipients from the Lyster Ward, I am always reminded of what a diverse, passionate and committed community we have in the Dandenong Ranges.

Here's Jordan, committee member from Belgrave Survival Day. Survival Day is a wonderful celebration of indigenous heritage and culture and it's survival since settlement.













Jackie and Vicki from the Southern Dandenong Landcare Group, along with the SDLG members, are a powerhouse in the local community. The SDLG interacts in so many ways with the local community, whether its a land assessment, helping with planting guides, doing revegetation or weed removal works, they are truly passionate and the region and the environment. SDLG were received a grant for their Awesome Ornithorhynkids Day, a day to learn about local waterways, the platypus and how we can help care for it's habitat and ongoing survival.

Selbyfest ran for the first time in 2011, it was wonderful festival and a great example of community involvement. It was terrific to be able to award Leanne and Karl with a community grant for Selbyfest 2012.

Vicki Boyle accepted the community grant award on behalf of the Belgrave South Community House. The house have been awarded a grant to run the All in Gardening project, a gardening group developed primarily for people with disabilities.

Jaime Snyder from Pocket Bonfire Productions received a community grant to run the Hillside Youth Film Festival. The festival is an annual youth focused film festival held in Belgrave, showcasing the best original short firms from emerging Victorian filmmakers.

Liz and Dianne from BRAG were pleased to receive a community grant to fund their Belgrave Historical Plaques and Walk project. The project will see a series of plaques displaying pictures and text showcasing Belgrave's past.

Other Lyster ward recipients include:
Sherbrooke U3A for Shared Learnings in U3As, a combined project with the Yarra Ranges U3A.
Irabrina Childhood Autism Services for the Outer Eastern Sibling Support Camp, to provide children 7-12 years old with a sibling with autism the opportunity to build understanding about autism.
Belgrave Community Arts Project for the Belgrave Lantern Parade, a community celebration of winter solstice.
Fernlea House for Fernlea House in the Valley, investigating a satellite service for palliative care.

community grants open for 2011

APPLICATIONS FOR THE YARRA RANGES GRANTS FOR COMMUNITY ARE NOW OPEN.

Applications for 2011-2012 are to be submitted online at http://yarraranges.smartygrants.com.au

The 2011-2012 Yarra Ranges Council Grants for Community program is now open and is being launched with a series of information sessions in February and a grant writing workshop in early March. The Annual Grants for Community Program has been designed to strengthen communities in Yarra Ranges by fostering active participation in local projects and activities.

One-off funding is provided to support communities to achieve their goals, resulting in tangible outcomes for their communities.

The Yarra Ranges Council grants support initiatives which aim to:
Meet local needs;
Encourage the formation of partnerships; and
Implement solutions to identified issues.

There are three funding categories within the one-off annual Grants for Community Program being:
Cultural Development (for organisations & individuals)
Festivals & Events (for organisations only)
Community Development (for organisations only)

Important Dates
1 February 2011 Grants open
16 February 2011 Yarra Junction - 6.30pm to 8.00pm (information session)
17 February 2011 Lilydale - 6.30pm to 8.00pm (information session)
23 February 2011 Monbulk - 10.00am to 11.30am (information session)
3 March 2011 Lilydale - 4.30pm to 7.30pm (hands-on workshop)
11 April 2011 Grants close

For more information or to book into an information session click here.

communities are winners

It was terrific to be able to preside over the Shire of Yarra Ranges Community Grants Award night last week. A great night, very well attended, it’s an opportunity for grant recipients to chat to other groups about their experiences and be acknowledged for their specific projects.

Me with Tilla Buden from Burrinja, who auspice the Hillside Film Festival, an annual youth focussed film festival showcasing the best original short films from emerging Victorian filmmakers under 30.

This year was no exception, the projects were rich and diverse in the range of themes on offer, from providing for the needy through to conceptual art projects.

Me pictured with Julian from the Selby Community House. The house received a grant for a festival celebrating local artists and musicians with sub themes of community building and environmental sustainability.






The community grants program is made up of three different themes, community development, cultural development and festivals & events.

Rochelle Dennis, me and Marina Dennis representing BCAP and the Belgrave Lantern Festival. A wonderful community festival that goes from strength to strength.

It is a program that continues to be oversubscribed every year and this year we saw an overwhelming 83 applications lodged with 51 projects successfully accessing funding.

Farndons Hall received a grant to assist with their centenary celebrations. 1910 to 2010, a great history and quite a battle for survival too.

Grant recipients from the Dandenong Ranges include:
Belgrave Survival Day 2011
Dandenong Ranges Renewable Energy Association
Belgrave Lantern Parade
Hillside Film Festival
Farndon’s Hall centenary celebrations
Dandenong Ranges Music Council Kidzsongs
Tucker in the Tin Shed
See Through Me Skate Park Photo project
Selby Community House for a music and arts festival
Transition Towns Sherbrooke
Kallista Primary School Interlink program
Upwey Billy Cart Races

Bridget Gunn and me, Bridget's project Skater Nature is a photographic documentation of the Yarra Ranges skate parks and their inhabitants.

community grants granted

Earlier this week I had the great pleasure of handing out ‘cheques’ to community groups who were successful in an application for funding under the Shire’s Community Grants Program.

It is a great program and facilitates many wonderful events and projects throughout the length and breadth of the shire.

It was terrific to see some locals receive grants. Lyster ward recipients included:

Mission Impossible: The Resource Centre Inc
Project Sweet Tooth (Stage 2) Engages young people in the making and serving of cakes and slices to the needy in our community who drop into Mission Impossible in Belgrave.

Dandenong Ranges Renewable Energy Association Community Energy Forums to talk at a community forum on an aspect of sustainability, energy efficiency and renewable energy on a 4 monthly basis.

Kallista Community House Inc
Kitchen Refurbishment - 2009 Replace the hot water service and oven/stove.

Dandenong Ranges Open Studios
To promote working artists studios in the Dandenong Ranges through the design, production and promotion of a booklet and touring map of the region's studios, an Open Studio Weekend and an exhibition of participating artists at Burrinja.

Kye Garrett and Kage Studio
Purchase and assembly of equipment needed for a free access mobile recording studio (Kage Studio).

Belgrave Traders Association
Public Art in Belgrave (Concept Plan) - To fund the development of a concept plan to determine how they proceed with having public art displayed in Belgrave

Pocket Bonfire Productions
There's a Hippopotamus on our Roof Eating Cake – Short film adaptation of the children's picture book "There's a Hippopotamus on our Roof Eating Cake".

Belgrave Survival Day 2010
A local event that acknowledges and celebrates the survival of indigenous culture through community cultural activity.










Blue Dandenongs Young Filmmakers Festival
The BDYFF is a celebration of artistic excellence and innovation in Australian film, resulting in an annual showcase of the best original short films from emerging Victorian filmmakers.


























1st Selby Scout Group
Sustainable Lifestyle Festival - A festival incorporating an open houses tour which showcases the sustainable built environment in the local area.

Thanks to Lou for the images and Kaye for sending them.