Region: Hunter and Central Coast

Grant: $75,000

Building on their extensive experience working with young parents, this pilot project will see Brave focus specifically on teen dads. Ten young dads aged under 25 will be matched with a professional mentor for 12 months to support their parenting journey and help the young men fulfill their personal goals and participate in their community.

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Region: Hunter

Grant: $35,000

Critical care aeromedical service CareFlight will purchase a new tow motor to facilitate safe and speedy patient transfers at Newcastle Airport. This will enable CareFlight to provide an effective service to regional communities across the Hunter, Mid North Coast and New England regions, ensuring they have equitable access to healthcare, no matter where they live.

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Region: Northen Rivers, Mid North Coast

Grant: $50,000

Coolamon Community will deliver 240 cribs to pregnant First Nations women in the Northern Rivers and Mid North Coast to celebrate the birth of their child. Each woman provided with a Coolamon Crib will be connected to culturally appropriate healthcare to support her during the pregnancy, birth and infancy of her child. This builds important relationships with service providers and helps and prepare her emotionally, physically and financially for motherhood.

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Region: Hunter

Grant: $94,000

Aiming to improve outcomes for children in out-of-home care, FISH will provide the parents of these children with support, knowledge and skills, contributing to higher rates of family preservation and restoration/reunification.

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Region: Hunter

Grant: $49,500

People living with disabilities will be given opportunities to build social connection and generate income through Avenue Newcastle’s microbusiness program. The project will also train, mentor and support 14 entrepreneurs to develop a plan to kick-start or scale up their business.

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Region - Central West

Grant: $137,000

This one-year pilot project will hire, train and provide a vehicle for a Community Food Relief Coordinator to support sustainable food accessibility for those in the community who do not have food security.

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Region - Hunter/ Central Coast

Grant: $55,000

Cycling to Freedom will gift a custom-built and age-appropriate Freedom Wheels bike to 25 children residing in the Central Coast and/or Hunter Region. Children aged 2 - 19 with physical and cognitive disabilities. It will introduce children with disabilities to the social benefits of cycling. The bike is theirs to keep.  

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Region: Hunter

Grant: $120,000

Drawing on its global experience in providing quality accommodation for people facing disadvantage, Habitat will expand to the Hunter and Central Coast for the first time. Their project will engage 150 volunteers to refurbish 20 social and transitional housing units for those in need, especially women and children escaping family and domestic violence.

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Region: New England 

Grant: $70,000

Building on their extensive experience in delivering primary health care in the New England region, this pilot project will see HealthWISE partnering with community pharmacies to embed Aboriginal Health Workers in retail settings to improve health literacy and medication management for First Nations communities.

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Region: Hunter

Grant: $61,000

The Hunter DFV Consortium will partner with IT social enterprise WorkVentures to build capacity in the domestic violence sector so they can respond to the emerging issue of tech-facilitated abuse and cyber-stalking. This will ensure better outcomes for victim-survivors of this fast-evolving and complex problem.

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Region: Hunter

Grant: $127,000 

The Sunshine Hut clinic delivers children’s support services at Jenny’s Place Crisis Shelter. With this $127,000 grant, this project will support operation of the clinic, helping over 50 children receive expert help to recover more quickly from trauma and build resilience. It aims to improve outcomes for children who have experienced domestic and family (DFV) violence by developing an innovative support program.

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Region: Kempsey

Grant: $150,000

This expansion project will build on the success of its Volunteer Family Connect program in the Taree region, enabling volunteers to help vulnerable families whose children require additional support for healthy development. Upskilling volunteers to support therapeutic outcomes for children is expected to support career development with pathways provided to further studies and job opportunities in the allied health sector. This will address a severe allied health workforce shortage in the area.

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Region: Hunter, Mid North Coast and Central Coast

Grant: $33,839

Respected national charity, the Lung Foundation Australia will establish its Lungs in Action exercise programs in the Hunter, Mid North and Central Coast. The project will train 10 local registered fitness professionals to help patients live manage their chronic lung and/or heart conditions.

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Region: Central Coast (Gosford)

Grant: $90,000

Music-based youth development charity Musicians Making a Difference (MMAD) will deliver a new streamlined program for young people who are at-risk or have already disengaged from education and employment in the Central Coast region. Their Rewriting Futures program will provide participants with life skills, social connections and increased confidence. 

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Region: Hunter, Mid North Coast

Grant: $120,000

From humble origins, PROJECT ROCKIT is now a nationwide youth-led movement against hate, bullying and prejudice. In 2024, the PROJECT ROCKIT Foundation will deliver student workshops addressing bullying, cyber-safety and mental health in 15 high schools across the Hunter and mid-north coast.

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Region: Mid North Coast

Grant: $86,000

Thirty Year 10 students from Macleay Vocational College will learn a range of digital media skills, including film and audio fundamentals, video production, editing and post-production. They will take their new skills and knowledge on Country to record knowledge shared by Custodians.

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Region: Northern Rivers

Grant: $81,000

Shedding Community Workshop experienced significant growth in demand for their inclusive and trauma informed services following the 2022 flood disaster in the Northern Rivers. This project will enable them to focus on the long-term sustainability and scalability of their organisation while continuing to deliver their practical resilience building workshops to the community. 

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Region: Central Coast

Grant: $50,000

This program will train 20 Lifeline Counsellors across two hubs to deliver SMART (Self-Management and Recovery Training) Recovery meetings, which provide clients with evidence-based addiction and mental health support.

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Region: Northern Rivers, Mid North Coast

Grant: $20,000

Southern Cross University will research the challenges and barriers faced by immigrant women of child-bearing age in the Northern Rivers region. Led by a team with lived-experience, the project will inform future practices to reduce the disparities in healthcare and social services they currently face.

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Region: Hunter

Grant: $20,000

Established community health agency STARTTS will deliver a sports and wellbeing program to young Afghan and Syrian refugees in Newcastle. The project will leverage team sports to provide a safe space for young people to connect with others, enhance wellbeing and navigate complex settlement experiences. 

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Region - Hunter, Central Coast, Central West 

Grant - $88,600

The SER of Young Migrants and Refugee Women project is an employment and skills development program for young at-risk migrant and refugee women in culturally and linguistically diverse and “hard-to-reach” communities in Regional NSW. With this $88,600 grant, the aim is to increase female workforce participation and career development.

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Region: Hunter

Grant: $150,000

The Warrior Woman Foundation will bring its evidence-based flagship program, The Young Warrior Woman Program, to the Hunter. With a holistic and multi-disciplinary approach, the program is designed to support vulnerable young women in their transition into adulthood with a particular focus on financial independence and safe, healthy relationships.

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Region: Hunter

Grant: $20,000

Grassroots, volunteer-led organisation Warm Blankets for Everyone will deliver 1,800 handmade high-quality blankets to a diverse range of community organisations in the Hunter and Central Coast to offer comfort and security for people experiencing poverty or homelessness. 

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