ANZ Seeds of Renewal grants $250,000 to rural and regional communities

ANZ and the Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal (FRRR) have awarded $250,000 in grants to 20 community groups and non-for-profit organisations through the ANZ Seeds of Renewal program.

The program, which is now in its 21^st year, provides grants to community groups across remote, rural and regional Australia. The awarded funds will support projects that improve access to housing, financial wellbeing, and environmental sustainability.

ANZ General Manager, Strategic Delivery, Jenefer Stewart said: “During the past 21 years, Seeds of Renewal has helped more than 800 communities in remote and regional Australia to thrive, while promoting community vibrancy and sustainability.

“The program is something we are really proud of, and it was very pleasing to see a diverse mix of applications, all with strong alignment to the four focus areas; environmental sustainability, financial wellbeing, housing access and projects that assist local communities to thrive.”

FRRR CEO, Natalie Egleton said: “Many Australians are presently facing uncertainty and environmental, financial, housing or wellbeing concerns. For people living outside of metro regions, practical support is harder to access and sustainable solutions require both committed funds and local people with the capacity to lead the change.

“Across remote, rural and regional Australia, local organisations continue to show up for their communities, to help address the critical needs of locals that would otherwise likely be unmet.

“Through partnerships such as this one with ANZ, we can support these organisations to fill these gaps. For example, in Bairnsdale, Victoria, the community’s Recycling Enterprise is building local capacity to recycle. With their $10,000 grant, the Enterprise will purchase the machinery needed to process polystyrene and promote waste reduction practices across the region,” Ms Egleton said.

Since 2003, ANZ Seeds of Renewal has awarded $5.75 million to more than 800 community groups for approximately 900 projects. Some examples of the projects funded this year include:

Improving access to housing:

• Office AU Limited, Wilya Janta: Making Bricks on Country, Tennant Creek, NT – Enhance local housing and employment opportunities through supporting a community house build designed for the Tennant Creek climate using locally produced bricks. $15,000.

Improving environmental sustainability:

• ReForest Now Limited, Expansion of the ReForest Now Nursery, Mullumbimby, NSW - Build organisational capacity to increase rainforest regeneration, engage local community in environmental sustainability, and create new local employment opportunities via the expansion of native plant nursery operations. $10,000.

• Trillion Trees Australia Inc., Healing West Australia’s Wheatbelt – One Tree at a Time, Westdale, WA – Restore Indigenous plants and shrubs to regenerate cleared landscape to benefit the environment and the local community with volunteer planting of 20,000 saplings. $14,400.

Improving Financial Wellbeing:

• South West Community Foundation, Financial Know-how in the Digital World, Warrnambool, VIC – Improve financial literacy to reduce vulnerability to digital fraud and increase money management skills through local workshops in South West Victorian communities. $15,000.

Assisting local communities to thrive:

• Warialda Cultural Community Centre Craft Shop, Building Capacity and Helping Volunteers, Warialda, NSW – Enhance community facilities and volunteer safety at the Warialda Cultural Community Centre Craft Shop with kitchen equipment, chairs, tables, a shade tent, and security cameras. $14,932.

• PCYC Innisfail Braking the Cycle (BTC), Innisfail, QLD – A learner driver mentoring program that empowers young people facing barriers to undertake the mandatory 100 hours of supervised driving required to obtain their licence. $15,000.

The full list of the recipients is available on FRRR's website.

About Seeds of Renewal: Over the past 21 years the ANZ Seeds of Renewal program has provided more than $5 million to support more than 800 community groups achieve their goals. Administered independently by the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal (FRRR), the ANZ Seeds of Renewal program offers grants of up to $15,000 to community groups for projects that support environmental sustainability; improve access to housing; or financial wellbeing in regional communities of fewer than 15,000 people.

About FRRR: The Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal - FRRR - (phonetically:
F-triple-R) – is the only national foundation specifically focused on ensuring the social and economic strength of remote, rural and regional communities. FRRR's unique model connects common purposes and investment with locally prioritised needs, to create communities that are vital and resilient. Since FRRR's start in 2000, it has delivered more than $177 million to more than 14,000 projects.

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