City Awards $75,000 In Community, Youth And Arts Grants

Community, youth and arts organisations have received a $75,000 boost from the City of Fremantle in its latest round of grants.

Eleven projects will receive financial support to assist with programs and activities that make a positive contribution to the community.

Fremantle Mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge congratulated the grant recipients and thanked them for their work.

“It’s a reflection of our incredible place we live in that we are able to recognise the important work these organisations do for our community, for our young people, and for the arts,” she said.

“The City is proud to support their efforts to make Freo a more inclusive, vibrant and creative place.”

There were three recipients in the Community category:

The Domestic Abuse Resource Training Institute will run a 12-week music and drama therapy workshop at Sullivan Hall in White Gum Valley for women and children who have experienced domestic violence.

Starting in Term 4, the Stephen Michael Foundation will deliver an after school, sports based physical activity program at the Fremantle PCYC in Hilton for at-risk and disengaged youth to increase participation and reduce anti-social behaviour.

Conducted at various venues in Fremantle, Reclink Australia will offer free sport, recreation, fitness and art programs for disadvantaged community members to improve physical & mental health and social connectedness.

There were four recipients in the Youth category:

Gaining Ground WA Inc. will expand their program providing girls soccer mentorship at Fremantle City Football Club. The project addresses the historical lack of women in leadership roles in grassroots sporting clubs through role models and education and aims to reduce player dropout rates in the early teen years.

The Studio School Fremantle, through All Saints College Foundation Inc., will fund their project “Planting Seeds and Sharing Stories & Songs” which is an intergenerational initiative that combines students, Elders and the Friends of Boo Park to produce native plant and weeding guides and have important conversations in the process.

Globe Town Project Inc. will deliver “StoryLab”, a teen writers program at the Fremantle Library facilitated by local award-winning writer, Deb Fitzpatrick. The after-school sessions aim to improve the confidence, self-esteem and resilience of young writers, while encouraging learning and growth.

To improve the cooking skills and food literacy of vulnerable youth in Fremantle, Foodbank of Western Australia has developed a youth-focused nutrition education program called Nom! This grant will help them reach more young people through additional workshops at Foodbank WA’s Health Eating Hub in Fremantle.

There were four recipients in the Arts category:

Walyalup Djena Bidi is the first children’s illustration book written by Cass Lynch and Marie Taylor for the Woylie Project. The funding contributes to the printing and distribution of the book which was developed from story-sharing sessions by Elders and artists at Fremantle Primary School and has been illustrated by the children.

Red Dress Project Whadjuk Country is a series of workshops with the community for the future development of a major artwork and exhibition in Walyalup | Fremantle. First Nation female artists will work with First Nation women to collaboratively create artwork and support healing activities for women affected by violence and abuse.

Lyndon Blue’s album preview concert will debut an ambitious body of work from the Lyndon Blue band. The concert will feature a newly expanded ensemble involving local musicians from diverse musical backgrounds.

UP THERE is a devised audio walking tour created by artists Tay Conway, William Gammel and Leah Robyn that interrogates place, space and community, and questions how empty spaces could be better occupied. The funding will support further development and a public showing of the work.