$1.5 million for NSW from bushfire recovery grants program

Thirty New South Wales projects have been allocated funds totalling $1.5 million. This was made possible by you through the Bendigo Bank Bushfire Community Recovery Grants Program.

This funding is in addition to the $3.3 million Youth Education and Workplace Pathways grants which benefited 1,126 young people in NSW. This program was jointly funded with The Salvation Army.

The grants program, launched in 2020, is specifically to fund community recovery projects. It's designed to rebuild and strengthen the social fabric of communities impacted by the 2019/2020 Black Summer Bushfires.

Prioritisation will be given to initiatives that aim to promote:

• resilience and recovery of individuals,
• community connectedness and recovery,
• economic restoration,
• conservation and re-establishment of the natural environment.

Braidwood Life Centre will manage two of the bushfire recovery initiatives. The first is $30,000. It will fund the Community Recovering Creatively After Traumatic Bushfires project. The centre will provide free counselling/therapy for fire affected individuals and families. An art therapy and coffee group will also be offered to enable community connections and healing through art.

A $50,000 bushfire recovery grant will fund the second project. It will assist the continued development of Gumtree Cottage. This emergency housing project will provide housing for those in need in times such as disaster.

Below is the list of successful recipients from the grants program. These projects made possible through the generous donations to the NSW Bushfire Appeal: