Funding Landcare in Lake Macquarie
Landcare in Lake Macquarie is a partnership between Lake Macquarie City Council, the Lake Macquarie Landcare Volunteer Network Incorporated and community Landcare groups actively involved in natural area management. Because of this unique partnership, support for groups is available through a number of mechanisms:
1. The Landcare Resource Centre, through support from Lake Macquarie City Council, can provide resources for Landcare groups upon receipt of a resource request and the approval of the Landcare Coordinator.
2. External Grants can provide funding from a variety of Government and business programs. Each grant program is different with some only available to Incorporated community groups and/ or Local Government Authorities. For most of these situations, the Landcare group is the applicant and the Council is the sponsor/ administrator of the grant. This is the preferable arrangement for all grants that involve works on Council land. Where grants are only open to Incorporated community groups the Lake Macquarie Landcare Volunteer Network can be the sponsoring organisation. The Landcare Resource Office supports these arrangements, providing assistance with applications, securing the permission of the landholder, and providing financial, and project management roles as the sponsor. Currently open grant programs are promoted through our News page.
Applying for funds
Landcare groups in Lake Macquarie wishing to apply for funds should first contact the Landcare Resource Centre on 4921 0392. The Grants Officer can then assist you in deciding which funding mechanism is most appropriate and let you know what grant opportunities are currently available or likely to open soon. It is useful if you have a good idea of what your proposed project will involve at this stage. The downloadable Project Plan Template will assist you in developing your idea.
Remember, there are a number of steps that you will need to go through when applying for a grant but that Lake Macquarie Landcare can assist you with these. The steps are:
- Developing a project plan – see the Project Plan Template.
- Contacting Lake Macquarie Landcare to obtain their support to assist you with your application (often done through a Resource Request).
- Identifying a suitable grant to apply for – keep an eye on our News page for grant programs that are open
- Obtaining permission of the Landholder.
- Obtaining approval of the application from the sponsoring organization (Council or LMLVN Inc).
- Submitting your funding application.
- If successful, carrying out your project according to the funding agreement and keeping good records of all project related activities, reporting on time etc.