Recent funding will help the Bundaberg Neighbourhood Centre meet its costs of providing a safe and sanitary environment for people to connect
The organisation is one of 127 Queensland centres to share in a one-off $2.54 million funding boost for neighbourhood and community centres.
Bundaberg Neighbourhood Centre manager Corrie McColl said this funding would support the delivery of much needed services to the community.
“The recent Queensland Government announcement offering a one-off grant of $20,000 will go a long way to help the Bundaberg Neighbourhood Centre meet its costs of providing a safe and sanitary environment for people to connect,” Corrie said.
“We pride ourselves in being a community focused organisation that does its best to help the community.
“With the impact of Covid-19, this grant will allow the continuation of regular programs with less numbers until the situation returns to some form of normality”.
Corrie said the funding boost would also help in purchasing additional sanitary items, such as hand sanitiser and disinfectant and it would also be used for Rapid Antigen Testing kits if needed.
Member for Bundaberg Tom Smith said the boost of $20,000 was welcomed by staff and community members to the Bundaberg Neighbourhood Centre.
“This $20,000 will go a long way towards helping the Bundaberg Neighbourhood Centre to continue delivering services and responding to increasing demands for support and changing clientele needs, such as requests for emergency relief and assisting clients to book vaccinations and upload certificates to the Check-In Qld App,” he said.
“This funding will also assist the centre with cleaning costs and undertaking outreach opportunities to vulnerable and marginalised groups.”
Minister for Communities and Housing Leeanne Enoch said the state’s network of neighbourhood and community centres had been on the frontline supporting Queenslanders through the pandemic.
“Our neighbourhood and community centres have been working incredibly hard to safely continue delivering services and supports to their local communities,” Ms Enoch said.
“But they’ve also had to overcome some challenges and adjust their service delivery to respond to the individual needs and priorities of their local communities as a result of COVID-19 and the current disaster events in the state.
“Neighbourhood and community centres have also faced increased costs in measures to keep their staff, volunteers and visitors safe, while experiencing reduced income from hire of rooms and other venues due to the pandemic.
“In recognition of their extraordinary efforts, and the increased costs incurred as a result of the pandemic, we are providing a one-off funding boost of $20,000 to each of the 127 centres operating across Queensland.”
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Fantastic area to hold meetings and other community activities.