Wests Leagues club grants boost community groups

Miracle Babies Foundation, WILMA Women’s Health Centre, Rotary Club of Macarthur Sunrise and the Kookaburra Kids Foundation are some of the community groups which have shared more than $27,000 in club grants from Wests Leagues Club.

All up 21 local groups received more than $89,000 from the four participating clubs in the Campbelltown area at a presentation held yesterday in Ingleburn RSL Club.

“The Campbelltown grants program and its members all work together and share the responsibility of our contributions,’’ says Karen Hansen, executive assistant and club grants administrator for Wests League Club.

“If one club can’t support a particular group, another member may step up and help out,” she said.

This year, the recipients of Wests Leagues grants were:

• WILMA – Women’s Health Centre, who provide health and well-being programs for women who have been affected by domestic violence, homelessness or other hardships, and who may not otherwise be able to afford holistic services. The grant will provide 50 vouchers for women to utilise these services at no cost to themselves.

• The Rotary Club of Macarthur Sunrise for their administration of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library program. The program sends hardcover books to registered children in low socio-economic situations, aged from birth to 5 years old, in order to encourage them to develop reading skills.

• The Kookaburra Kids Foundation helps children in families that are impacted by mental health. The foundation runs camps with counsellor led workshops to help them develop understanding, coping skills and resilience, in the hope of preventing the development of their own mental health struggles later in life due to their exposure as children.

• The Miracle Babies Foundation provides support for families with premature and very ill babies. The funding from Wests Leagues provides NICU support packs with informational for support services to assist the families during their difficult time.

• The Children’s Festival Organisation promotes community harmony through the concept of “Playing together and Living in Harmony”. It’s about children from different cultural backgrounds coming together to enjoy and appreciate each other without prejudice. In addition to the festival, they also have a young champions award, which was last year celebrated at Wests League Club, and this year’s grant will be used to expand on those awards.

`MacUnity is a network that aims to build relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community members and mainstream community service providers. The grant funds will be used to create a single comprehensive calendar that community members can refer to for all upcoming events and awareness activities in the local community that are related to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander initiatives.

“We are very proud to be able to contribute to these great organisations that are doing so much for the community,’’ said the CEO of Wests Group Macarthur Tony Mathew.

“We congratulate them on their inspiring efforts to help the people of Campbelltown.”

Club grants provide funding to the local community, guided by recommendations on the area’s social needs from the council and community service providers.

The Campbelltown grants committee is made up of representatives from Wests Leagues, the Catholic Club, Ingleburn RSL and Campbelltown RSL Clubs.

The program is administered through Campbelltown Council and Sector Connect.

Further funding is granted from each club to various recipients throughout the year.

In 2017/2018, Wests Leagues contributed more than $1.7 million through club grants categories one and two. To learn more about club grants go to https://www.clubgrants.com.au/