By Dominique Tassell
Southern Downs Regional Council has invited drought-affected not-for-profit community organisations to apply for a share of $200k which is now available.
Funded by the Australian Government’s Drought Communities Programme (DCP) Extension Grant, eligible organisations could receive up to $20k each to upgrade facilities or purchase equipment that supports the delivery of community-beneficial activities.
A Council spokesperson said that preference will be given to applicants who have not received funding in a previous round of Community Drought Recovery Program funding.
“In April 2021, funding was made available through the same grant and it was extremely well supported with applications from a wide range of organisations,” the spokesperson said.
“In this round, we would like to give preference to applicants who did not receive funding in the previous round so that we can distribute the grant even wider throughout the community.”
The objectives of the Community Drought Recovery Program are to support not-for-profit organisations impacted by the drought; stimulate the local economy by enabling non-forprofit organisations to engage local contractors and purchase from local businesses; and support healthy and socially inclusive activities through the development of sport, recreation and community facilities.
Council is asking organisations to carefully consider their request to ensure that all processes associated with the project can be completed and acquitted by 28 February 2022 as there is no possibility for extensions with this program.
They also stressed that applicants should also take into consideration potential impacts of Covid-19 restrictions, timelines to receive required approvals, delivery delays, and availability of goods when deciding on a project to submit for this funding.
The Community Drought Recovery Program funding is not available to applicants if they are recipients of Council’s Annual Operational Funding or Major Events Sponsorship or if they have received any other Council funding for the same project
Applications close on Monday 25 October 2021 and can be made through SmartyGrants. Funding guidelines and links to application forms are available at www.sdrc.qld.gov.au.
Projects must take place between 25 November and 28 February and must be completed and acquitted by 28 February 2022. The date is firm and cannot to be extended due to Council’s grant funding obligations with the Australian Government.
Interested parties can contact Council’s Community Grants Officer on 1300 MY SDRC (1300 697 372) for more information.
This project received grant funding from the Australian Government’s Drought Communities Programme (DCP) Extension.
