Wagga’s 2022 ClubGRANTS program recipients were officially announced at a presentation ceremony at the Rules Club Wagga. Photo: Adam Drummond.
Community groups in the Riverina and beyond are officially almost $95,000 better off following the announcement of the local 2022 ClubGRANTS program recipients earlier today (25 August).
Part of a state-wide initiative to provide a framework for registered clubs to directly fund local priority projects and services, representatives from the Wagga Wagga RSL Club and Rules Club Wagga Wagga revealed the scheme’s 14 beneficiaries.
Among them was St Vincent De Paul Society NSW’s Edel Quinn Homeless Support Service, which received a $5000 grant from Wagga Wagga RSL.
Edel Quinn accommodations team leader Joshua Haworth said the money would go towards food costs for Wagga’s homeless, which has been a big concern for the organisation.
“We had our food budget cut at the start of COVID,” he said.
“There has also been a massive increase in the homeless community and people accessing our services. Anyone sitting just above the poverty line, or lower middle income earners, suffered when prices started skyrocketing.”
Edel Quinn feeds its residents and provides breakfast staples for the homeless, a service they hope to expand into lunch.
Joshua said despite soaring inflation, the organisation’s resourceful kitchen staff can make 20 to 25 meals with about $60, so the grant could go far.
Relying on the community and grants to cover about 40 per cent of their costs, he added that Edel Quinn was grateful for Wagga RSL’s support.
“It might’ve started with the grant and we’re always very thankful to get monetary assistance from the local community, but Jo Thomas from Wagga RSL has actually gone a few steps further,” Joshua said.
“She’s renovating a bathroom used by our community members, she secures rapid relief food boxes and helps us find contractors to get better quotes for works needed on the facilities.
“Her contributions go beyond the grant.”
Edel Quinn accommodations team leader Joshua Haworth accepted the grant on behalf of the organisation. Photo: Adam Drummond.
Wagga Wagga City Council coordinates the local ClubGRANTS committee, which comprises representatives from the Wagga Wagga RSL Club, Rules Club Wagga Wagga, the NSW Department of Communities and Justice and the local community.
The council’s director of community Janice Summerhayes said the ClubGRANTS scheme “assisted groups that may not have been able to secure financial assistance through other means”.
“It helps to ensure the valued services and projects they provide to our community continue to be delivered,” she said.
The framework allows clubs that earn more than $1 million annually in gaming machine revenue to provide funding for community projects and services, in turn receiving dollar-for-dollar gaming tax deductions.
Other groups and successful projects sharing in the $90,491 pool were:
- Smith Family – Wagga Wagga Learning Clubs
- Wagga Wagga East Before and After School Care – operation upgrade
- Carevan Wagga Incorporated – Carevan Returning to Community meals
- Miracle Babies Foundation – peer developed support resources for families with babies born premature or sick in Wagga Wagga Base Hospital
- Amy Hurd Early Learning Centre – sustainable irrigation system
- Ashmont Churches Caring for Children – Ashmont Breakfast Program
- Solve – TAD Limited – Freedom Wheels assessments for Wagga Wagga city residents
- Little Wings Limited – Little Wings Children’s Hospital Flight Program
- Men of League Foundation Limited – wellbeing support for the rugby league community
- St Vincent De Paul Society NSW – Edel Quinn Homeless Support Service food costs
- Riding for the Disabled (NSW) Wagga Centre – shirts for volunteers
- Beyond the Badge Limited – Beyond the Badge Career Transition Program for first responders
- Boys to the Bush Limited – supporting Wagga Wagga youth
- Clontarf Foundation – engaging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students in education and employment at Kooringal High School
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