On Wednesday the 6th October, we were proud to be announced as a Highly Commended Award-winning Finalist in the 2021 Get Ready NSW Community Award. In what was a record year for applications, we reached the Final 4, and were awarded a Highly Commended trophy. This award recognises the work our Grants program did to help the Northern Rivers take back momentum and create a better future, in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic impact on the region.
The NSW Get Ready Community Award is a NSW Government initiative launched in 2015. The award recognises and celebrates NSW communities that have come together and done exceptional work to be more prepared and better able to recover from disasters.
Hearing first-hand stories from affected customers spurred us to think about how we could foster hope for the future of the Northern Rivers of NSW. We reinvented and quadrupled the size of an existing community grants program to better support individuals, businesses and the broader community in recovery from the economic impacts of COVID-19 and other disasters.
With exceptional community support, six projects were selected based on their impact on the region and the values they represented – such as community, care, empowerment, customer focus and integrity. Highlights include the Sea Turtle Recovery Dry Docking System in Byron Bay, the Precious Plastic Northern Rivers community access plastic recycling centre and the Impactful Youth Project, which provides a four-day camp based on Aboriginal initiation processes for 11-16 year-old young people to build confidence, personal leadership, and emotional literacy. All of these projects will deliver long-lasting benefits to the Northern Rivers of NSW for many years to come.
For more on our Grants program, visit our website
