Community
13 August, 2025
Ready now grants take off
CORANGAMITE Shire Council awarded 41 applications under the Ready Now Grants Program throughout the past year, as part of the new-look program designed to support volunteers.
The report detailing the results for the 2024-2025 financial year was reviewed and noted at last month’s Ordinary Meeting of Council, which showed grants totalling $18,297 were awarded against a budget of $25,000.
Included among the funding recipients was the Simpson Men’s Shed ($500) to purchase a new chainsaw and safety kits last July, the Simpson and District Community Centre ($500) towards a weatherproof cupboard and a ring spotlight with a solar panel last August and the Timboon Field and Game Inc ($197) for a new chisel set and 1st Cobden Scout Group ($210) for lollies and bags for the Halloween trail last October.
In November to December last year, the recipients included the Lakes and Craters Band ($440) for four music stands, the Cobrico Hall Committee of Management ($500) for food for the annual barbecue, the Timboon Men’s Shed ($233) for painting materials for conversation circles, the Port Campbell Baptist Church ($400) for outdoor nativity decorations, Timboon Action ($500) for 20 Christmas trees and fairy lights and the Timboon Basketball Association ($350) for skills training and selection in an under 14s basketball squad.
From January to February this year, the recipients included the Hampden Tennis Association ($500) for a security door for the tennis pavilion, the Rotary Club of Cobden ($188) for an Easter Bunny costume and the Cobden and District Historical Society ($500) for a visual display of historical defence force worn hat tags.
In March to May of this year, Corangamite Shire Kokoda Expedition’s fundraiser movie night event screening the film Kokoda also received $500 of funding, and so did the South West Model Engineers for timber, blots and paint to construct the miniature railway bridge, the Timboon Recreation Reserve committee for the supply of sand and soft fall chips for the children’s playground, Timboon Action for wooden Christmas trees and decorations and Timboon Men’s Shed for shelving for timber.
This June, recipients included the South West District Restoration Group ($500) for pipes for a water tank update, Progressing Cobden ($389) for the purchasing of a cash register and Cobden and District Historical Society ($500) for the printing of brochures.
Councillor Geraldine Conheady said it was “heartening” to see the positive impact of the Ready Now Grants program.
“When you look down the list of the applicants for the 2024-2025 financial year, it just highlights just how many small community groups are benefitting from this particular grant stream,” she said.
“There’s such a wide variety of purposes those funds are being applied for. When you think of the number of people involved in those communities and the work that they do, that’s a lot of community support.
“The best thing, really, is the benefit to those community groups and that we’re able to provide that relatively small amount of funding but it has such a big impact.
“It’s such an easy, accessible and reliable process for them.
“I’m really quite proud we’ve been able to support our communities in this way.”
The program is designed to provide up to $500 in quick, small grants to volunteer-based community groups for projects which are not readily available under other grant programs.
Councillor Laurie Hickey said the grants program was a great way to support volunteers within the community.
“It has been a wide selection of groups and organisations who have been recipients of this money,” he said.
“It’s not a lot of money, but it’s still enough to keep the home fires burning and to keep ticking over with some of the projects that people run.”
The Ready Now Grants Program was adopted in September 2023 and replaced the previous Quick Response Grants Program which operated for more than a decade.
The Ready Now Grants Program is due for renewal under council’s overall grant policy review and will be back before council in November 2025.
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