Funding from the Foundation for Rural Regional Renewal has allowed a northern Victorian community centre to bring a new dimension to their community garden.
The Kyabram Community and Learning Centre (KCLC) has been successful in securing $5000 in funding from the FRRR and the Gardiner Dairy Foundation to establish an edible food and bush tucker garden at their Lake Rd headquarters and install some bench seating.
KCLC executive support officer Claire Perrella said the centre was humbled and grateful for the grant.
“The FRRR and Gardiner Foundation could see our vision and help us bring it to life,” Claire said.
“We will be planting an edible and bush tucker garden around some of the latest art sculptures that have been a welcoming addition to the Community Garden and Traffic School.”
Claire said the KCLC garden will be planted by bringing together volunteers, young children and schools.
“This is such a valuable space and asset to Kyabram and it’s fantastic that we are starting to see the community get excited about it too.
“We have recently upgraded the pathways to incorporate a traffic school, added new native animal art sculptures thanks to grant funding and now we will plant edible and bush tucker plants.
“We encourage community members’ involvement, by bringing people together to promote healthy lifestyles and social connections while showcasing this space.
“In addition, it also is nurturing traditional culture in Kyabram, supporting the flora and fauna themes of our streetscape.”
Species planned for the garden include native thyme, cinnamon myrtle, riberry and saltbush.
Native thyme (Prostanthera incisa), known also as cut-leaf mint bush, has been used in traditional First Nations’ medicine and for making herbal tea.
The program this year awarded $120,000 to Victorian dairy communities statewide and attracted much interest from a variety of community organisations.
FRRR CEO Natalie Egleton said community groups had reported challenges in local fundraising following two years of COVID-19 interruptions and increasing operational costs.
“Despite this, these local groups show a determination to overcome challenges and invest in projects and initiatives that enhance local opportunities or help fill gaps in service delivery,” Natalie said.
“This diversity of projects reflects that each of these communities is different and, therefore, so too are their needs and priorities.
“We are grateful to the Gardiner Foundation for recognising the importance of communities being able to access flexible funding to fill these gaps and for partnering with us for so long to provide this funding.”
The Gardiner Dairy Foundation invests in people, science and technology projects that aim to maximise benefits to all sectors of the Victorian dairy industry and Victorian dairy communities, and has contributed more than $85 million to dairy industry projects since 2000.