Bello Council announces community grant winners

BELLINGEN Shire Council has announced the recipients of the Community Grants and Environment Levy Community Program for Round 1 of the 2025/26 financial year.

At the June Ordinary Council meeting, Council approved a total of $45,144 in grant funding across four categories: the Community Support Fund, Community Event Sponsorship Fund, Creative Placemaking Fund, and the Environment Levy Community Program.

“The Community Grants Program continues to attract a high number of strong applications, reflecting the community’s passion, creativity, and commitment,” said Mayor Steve Allan.

Community Support Fund 
Council has awarded a total of $8,027 for the following activities:

• Bellingen Community Arts Council for the Bellingen Shire Arts Trail Weekend 2025.
• Urunga Surf Lifesaving Club for enhancing junior surf lifesaving safety and participation through the purchase of new nipper boards.
• The Full Circle Collective for a Conscious Christmas upcycling ornament decoration workshop and a Kids Clothes Swap event.
• Urunga Football Club for the purchase of new soccer nets.

Community Event Sponsorship Fund

A total of $18,000 has been awarded to the following events:

• Rotary Club of Dorrigo for the Dorrigo Rotary Valentine’s Day Ball.
• Taranta Arts Inc for the Bellingen Taranta Festival 2025.
• Toni Swain for The Mylestom Mollusc – a day celebrating the wonderful oysters, seafood, produce and environment surrounding Mylestom
• Camp Creative for the 40th Birthday Community Evening Event Program.
• Loving Spoonful Productions for The Great Fashion Stitch Up – a creative community event promoting textile waste production and sustainable fashion practices.
• Gig Big for Urunga Blues by the Sea – a full day music event to be held in October 2025.

Creative Placemaking Fund

Council awarded $4,148 in this category to support the following projects:

• Hayley Egan for Those Before – a multi element community art project.
• Urunga Sail Training Club for Sharing the River Histories Story of the Bindarray Yurruun (Long River) Sail.
• Luke Rhodes & Melissa Seelenmeyer for Guunu Maana: Sharing Songs & Stories – the first of a series of community led cultural events.

Environment Levy Community Fund

Council has allocated $14,969 to 5 projects:

• Flow-On Effect: an engaging event by OzGreen designed to connect the Shire’s tourism industry workers with local river ecosystems.
• The Great Fashion Stitch-Up: a creative community event by Loving Spoonful Productions promoting textile waste reduction and sustainable fashion practices.
• Biodiversity Protection in Mylestom: removal of weed trees at the Johnson Avenue Landcare Site to protect a critically endangered ecological community.
• Mrs Wilson’s Community Garden: the establishment of a community garden by the Urunga Country Women’s Association.
• Native Seed Project: seed collection, propagation, community workshops and regeneration by Dandarrga Landcare.

Round 2 dates for both programs will open on Wednesday 10 September and close Wednesday 8 October 2025.