More than $1.4 million to help Sydney communities

A support program for vulnerable social housing tenants, educational workshops and free community festivals and events are among the latest projects to receive funding from the City of Sydney.

More than $1.4 million in cash and in-kind support has been awarded to 78 projects in round one of the City's 2019-2020 cultural and social grants programs.

"The City of Sydney's grants programs support projects that make a real difference to our community, many of which would not be possible without our funding," Lord Mayor Clover Moore said.

"The projects in this round have been selected for their capacity to help build and sustain the social, cultural and economic life of our city.

"In the last financial year, we awarded a total of $14.1 million to 430 projects that continue to foster and celebrate Sydney's culture and creativity, support the local economy, and encourage sustainability or business growth.

"I encourage community groups, local businesses and individuals with great ideas and events that need support to apply for round two of our 2019-2020 grants programs, which close on 22 July."

MusicNSW has been awarded a $25,000 grant to produce a series of live music performances. The New & The Now all ages gig series will be held at 107 Projects in Redfern and feature performances programmed by the MusicNSW's youth advisory committee.

"It's important that young people get access to see and play live music in a professional setting," Laura Murdoch, Executive Producer at MusicNSW, said.

"Currently it's really hard for people under the age of 18 to go and see live music as most shows are held in over 18s venues.

"This grant means we can do just that and support our youth committee to run, promote and program shows, giving young people in NSW a foot in the music industry door sooner rather than later."

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

a project to support social housing tenants threatened with relocation from their Waterloo homes a series of interactive sessions to raise awareness and address negative perceptions of refugees Pyrmont Festival - a 10-day food, art and wine festival at venues across the village monthly live music sessions with local artists performing at various venues in Surry Hills a pop-up jazz bar in Green Square providing night-time entertainment and performance opportunities for local musicians two new accessible walking tours, led by young people, that will take visitors on a journey through Kings Cross the creation of a new theatre production that will share the stories of people married at the Wayside Chapel over the last 50 years drama and literacy workshops for culturally and linguistically diverse communities, including underprivileged schools, disadvantaged youths and refugees a series of free orchestral performances by Sydney Youth Orchestra at various locations across inner Sydney.

The next round of the City of Sydney's grants and sponsorships programs is open now, until 22 July 2019.

All grant applications are assessed under strict guidelines to ensure the projects meet the City's objectives.

For more information, go to cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/community/grants-and-sponsorships

For media inquiries or images, contact Elaine Kelly. Phone 0477 362 550 or email [email protected]

For interviews with Lord Mayor Clover Moore, contact Anusha Muller. Phone 0408 494 545 or email [email protected]