Bega Valley Community Disaster Relief Fund update

Monday, 18 May 2020

The Bega Valley Community Disaster Relief Fund is designed to assist and support the community in its recovery from natural disaster now and into the future.

It is a perpetual fund with management shared between the Social Justice Advocates of the Sapphire Coast and Bega Valley Shire Council.

Mayor Sharon Tapscott and Chair of the Social Justice Advocates Mick Brosnan are co-chairs of the fund.

The fund currently has around $605,000 in deposits, which includes $37,000 raised by the Villers-Bretonneux community in France. That community has asked that their donation be spent in the Cobargo area – acknowledging the sacrifice two soldiers from Cobargo made during World War 2. It is for this reason that representatives of the relief fund’s management committee wanted to meet with the Cobargo community this Wednesday, 20 May.

The committee was wanting to use that opportunity to trial an efficient application, approval and delivery process for grants from the fund to be distributed across bushfire impacted communities in the Bega Valley.

The overwhelming early interest and the current constraints of COVID-19 means that Wednesday’s meeting has had to be postponed. The committee regrets any confusion caused by the earlier invitation and the miscommunication involved. It’s important to all involved not to impose any further distress on people already under pressure.

The relief fund management committee is hoping to pilot a scheme with the Cobargo community. The learnings from that pilot will contribute to the development of the wider grants program. The committee will keep the community informed as we work through the process and build a fair, even-handed and responsive relief fund for now and the future.

Further details and a more formal launch for the fund will follow in the near future.

Anyone wanting support or assistance can contact the Bega Valley Recovery Support Service on 6499 2345 or [email protected]