City funding supports community needs

A program to improve school children's literacy, self-defence courses for women and support for Indigenous artists are some of the initiatives that will benefit from the City of Sydney's latest round of matching grants.

More than $118,000 in cash and in-kind support will be awarded to 19 recipients as part of the City's third round of matching grants for 2018/2019.

The City's matching grants program provides matched funding of up to $10,000 for projects that contribute to the community and enhance or celebrate the local area.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the City has been providing grants to the community for more than a decade.

"Our matching grants program is an important way for us to support our community to put on events or provide services that they know will have an enormous impact within our diverse communities," the Lord Mayor said.

"By providing funding or in-kind support for small but significant projects and great community-centred ideas, we want to make a real difference to the lives of our local residents and support an engaging and inclusive city for everyone who calls Sydney home."

Some of the projects to benefit from the latest round of grants include:

An arts market at Carriageworks that celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and features the works of local Indigenous artists A large-scale interactive art wall in Angel Place featuring community stories through video and audio A program of healthy cooking and eating, practical life skills and self-defence classes for vulnerable women A weekly drop-in clinic and afternoon tea for local social housing tenants in Camperdown to help improve social connectedness A 10-part carpentry skills course for marginalised people in the inner city.

Helen Coolican from Sydney Story Factory said a $10,000 matched cash grant from the City will help to improve literacy and academic outcomes for Woolloomooloo children attending Plunkett Street Public School.

"We've been working with these terrific kids for four years now and we have watched their writing confidence just grow and grow," said Helen.

"Our volunteer writing tutors are key to that success because of the way they engage with the kids one-on-one and the trust they build with them. With this program we'll boost our volunteers' tutoring skills even more, supporting them to achieve even greater results for the kids."

Matching grants are offered in three rounds each year and are open to individuals, unincorporated community groups, non-profit and for-profit organisations.

Applications are assessed against strict guidelines and criteria to ensure their projects are financially secure and meet the City's objectives.

The next round of the City of Sydney's matching grants program will open on 19 June 2019. For more information on matching grants and the other sixteen grant programs on offer, go to http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/community/grants-and-sponsorships

For media inquiries contact City of Sydney Senior Media Advisor, Elaine Kelly on 0477 362 550 or [email protected]

For interviews with Lord Mayor Clover Moore contact Communications Officer Julia Lenton on 0410 748 039 or [email protected]