The Southcoast Health and Sustainability Alliance (SHASA) successfully secured $30,000 from the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal (FRRR) Investing in Rural Communities Future funding to employ a Batemans Bay Community Coordinator with the task of growing a more resilient Batemans Bay region community sector.
The President of SHASA, Kathryn Maxwell says: “The FRRR held Community Roadmap workshops in Batemans Bay last year for local based community groups. These discussions highlighted the need for all our hard working volunteer based groups to have some assistance, in things like seeking grant funding; improving their capacity to communicate through websites and social media; succession planning and governance matters.”
“SHASA undertook to take the lead to ensure the outcomes of the Community Roadmap workshops are met and that we can invest in our Batemans Bay community groups and enhance their effectiveness,” Kathryn said.
“We are pleased to announce that we now have Wendy Wilson on board the SHASA team as the Community Coordinator for the Batemans Bay region. Wendy brings with her years of experience in Public Sector governance; her own experiences volunteering with community groups; and practical knowledge of modern forms of information technology”.
Kathryn says Wendy will also take the lead on engaging with community service providers to develop project plans with costings for future grant applications to upgrade community-building facilities to keep operating during heatwaves and bushfires. And, encouraging the purchase of electric vehicles and electric vehicle chargers in the region.
“These projects will also result in significant reductions in running costs for these organisations,” she says.
Wendy, Kathryn and SHASA member Andrea Charlton have already provided assistance to the Uniting Church in Batemans Bay, submitting a grant proposal under the Preparing Australian Communities Funding Program to upgrade the Uniting Church facility in Batemans Bay to function as a heatwave and bushfire haven during extreme weather events.
“I’m really pleased to be working in such a broad range of tasks across the community,” Wendy says.
“The more I can find out about the needs of each group, the more I can have a fuller picture of what is happening in the community and how we can all connect. This may result in sourcing funding to run workshops to help build the capacity of organisations to plan for future events. I look forward to hearing from any not for profit groups in the Batemans Bay area.”
So far, more than 20 not for profits and seven community service providers have signed up to be part of Wendy’s projects. To take part, or find out more, please contact Wendy on 0412125546 or wendy@adminpro.org.au
