Seeds of Renewal celebrates 20 years of supporting regional communities

In 2003 ANZ partnered with the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal (FRRR) to deliver the ANZ Seeds of Renewal program. This year marks the 20^th anniversary of the program with a further 20 organisations across Australia receiving grants in 2022.

Seeds of Renewal is a small, annual program that provides grants of up to $15,000 to community groups and not-for-profit organisations. It aims to help build vibrant and sustainable communities to ensure the ongoing prosperity of regional Australia.

In the 20 years since the program’s inception ANZ has donated over $5.5 million in small grants to over 800 community groups and supported more than 900 projects in regional Australia.

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ANZ understands small regional communities face unique challenges, in terms of access to services and community facilities. Programs like Seeds of Renewal aim to support these communities by funding projects that address some of these challenges.

The program was established during a time of crippling drought across regional Australia and in the early years focussed on providing grants for projects to support drought recovery, sustainability, employment and education.

“When I think back to the early days of the ANZ Seeds of Renewal partnership with FRRR, it was visionary, it was bold. Community partnerships and corporate partnerships were quite new,” explains FRRR Chief Executive Officer Natalie Egleton.

“It started out as just an idea with a vision and with a heartfelt aspiration to do something really meaningful that would have a lasting impact on regional communities.

“The ANZ and FRRR partnership is 20 years old, so it is a really substantial, enduring partnership and that’s pretty rare. It has moved with the times, continued to be relevant, continued to have leadership engagement and a really strong uptake in these communities.”

In recent years, the program has evolved to more closely align with ANZ’s organisational purpose. Grants are now provided to projects that are focussed on improving financial wellbeing, environmental sustainability, access to housing and community projects that assist local communities to thrive.

ANZ’s partnership with FRRR enables strong connections that reach far and wide into remote, rural and regional communities across Australia.

The Program benefits from FRRR’s extensive expertise in managing grant programs and their unique tax status that allows funds to be distributed to community and incorporated organisations that are not-for profit but not eligible to receive tax deductible donations.  

ANZ’s long-standing partnership with FRRR has been successful as a result of our shared values in wanting to support regional and rural Australia.

Hear more about the program and how it is supporting regional and rural Australia from the grant recipients in the ANZ Seeds of Renewal 20^th Anniversary video.