Whitsunday Art Fusion, Eungella Community Development Association secure FRRR funding

A fresh wave of funding will see more community connection in the Mackay and Whitsunday regions with money for art workshops and coffee stations coming soon.

Eungella Sunday Markets will soon have a new offering with a Coffee Corner now funded. Photo: Contributed

Rural Queensland community groups are set for a funding boost with more than $100,000 in grants heading their way.

The Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal is supporting 18 Queensland not-for-profit organisations to complete a variety of projects including creating inclusive and accessible community spaces, providing mentoring and training, improving employment prospects, and offering people the chance to connect and engage with others in their wider community.

Whitsunday Art Fusion will receive $7,668 which will go towards hosting art workshops in Proserpine.

Grant writer and workshop facilitator at Whitsunday Art Fusion, Belinda Curry, said the funding will support a wide variety of workshops from photography to painting to sculptural flower construction.

She said it was all about strengthening community cohesion and wellbeing through the creative arts and bringing community events back to Proserpine, particularly after Covid and cyclone Debbie.

The art workshops will be held at Proserpine Showgrounds and will be budget friendly thanks to the funding.

“We felt like there’s not a lot going on in the arts in Proserpine itself,” she said.

“We thought one way to improve things was to bring some workshops and something different to Proserpine.

“It’s not just the people in Proserpine, these workshops are reaching out to people in outlying areas.”

Ms Curry said the funding was vital for the workshops to go ahead, with each workshop costing thousands of dollars.

“The cost of these workshops are prohibitive for the average person, they would be paying $200 a day to do a workshop,” she said

“Were trying to offer workshops at reasonable prices.”

She said the first in the series of workshops would be a photography session facilitated by Stacey Nicholas on March 29.

Eungella Community Development Association also received funding which will go towards a ‘Coffee Corner’ at the local hall.

Assistant Treasurer at Eungella Community Development Association, Robyn Burns, said the funding would go a huge way towards getting a commercial-standard coffee station set up and providing training for volunteers.

“We couldn’t have done it without the $10,000, we wouldn’t have done it,” she said.

“I was just really delighted that Eungella was an area that they considered.

“We’re very excited about fulfilling the goal now of having the coffee corner.”

Eungella Sunday Markets could be a fresh chance to bring people together. Photo: Contributed

Ms Burns said previously the community would get together for a Friday night dinner to raise funds for the association but a pumped hydro project split the community quite severely, putting a stop to the dinners and leaving a fracture in the social connection of the area.

The Coffee Corner will be a new way to raise funds and hopefully bring people back together.

“Everyone loves a cup of coffee, don’t they,” she said.

“That’s the therapy, isn’t it, coffee and a chat.”

Initially they will run during the Sunday markets at the hall but eventually hope to be open to the public on Tuesdays as well when Ms Burns said other coffee shops in the area aren’t open.

She hopes to see the Coffee Corner up and running in June.

The grants are part of the Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal’s Strengthening Rural Communities program which offers two streams of funding to grassroots not-for-profit organisations across remote, rural and regional Australia.

This round of funding saw $827,253 in grants shared across more than 80 community groups.

More than 80 groups received funding including Innisfail Community Band. Photo: Contributed

Head of Granting at the Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal, Jill Karena said they are continually inspired by the strength and resilience of the groups dedicated to helping their communities thrive.

“What makes rural communities amazing are the people that live there,” she said.

“These places are filled with locals working hard to keep community spirit alive and willing to step up to see their region navigate the highs and lows that come with living in the country.

“We see our role as walking beside them and empowering local groups to lead the projects they know will have a real impact.

“Demand for funding continues to grow, as the cost of living and operational expenses rise, government priorities shift, and the impacts of climate change and disasters evolve.

“To meet this demand, FRRR needs the support of the philanthropic and corporate sectors.”