Volunteering WA is happy to announce the recipients of the ‘Strong and Resilient Communities Activity (SARC) – Community Support – Small Grants for Volunteer Involving Organisations’ grants program.
The grant will assist grassroots organisations to strengthen volunteering through capability and capacity building.
Organisations were able to apply for grants ($10,000 – $20,000) for one-off, time limited projects that build volunteer management capability, and help the organisation to support the social and economic participation of vulnerable and disadvantaged people.
Funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services, and administered by the State and Territory volunteering peak bodies.
Grant Recipients
Congratulations to the following 2024-25 Strong and Resilient Communities Activity Grant Recipients:
Organisation | Project Description |
Saving Animals from Euthanasia Incorporated (SAFE) | Focus: Animal welfare. Develop and implement a centralised volunteer management system, including software purchase, training, technical support, data migration, and community engagement activities. |
First Hike Project | Focus: Young people, sport and recreation. Professionally manage the volunteer experience, by facilitating data gathering surveys to enable a review of volunteer experience. Inform change to on-boarding training and induction modules to reflect this. Aim to increase numbers of trained volunteers in areas such as remote area first aid, bronze medallion water safety and, cultural awareness training from our partners. To value volunteers appropriately by providing volunteer-only events for all volunteers. To retain and grow volunteer numbers by using the information obtained in surveys to create an atmosphere that is inducive to a longer volunteer experience with the organisation. Additionally, to increase advertising for new volunteers. |
| You Can Sit With Us | Focus: Education and training, mental health, First Nations, young people, community services. Provide training opportunities for volunteer managers to improve the quality of volunteer programs such as building volunteer recruitment, engagement and retention to increase volunteer numbers. |
Midwest Marsupial Carers | Focus: Animal welfare, community services, environment. Co-design and effectively plan, design, implement, and evaluate a training program suitable for workshops, workbooks, and online delivery. The project includes real-time workshops for hands-on learning, workbooks for sustained knowledge retention, and an online training program to ensure accessibility for all. Develop a dedicated website to host the online training modules. |
Busselton Hospice Care | Focus: Health, aged care, community services. Encourage high school students to engage with older adults to foster mutual learning and understanding, particularly around technology and cybersafety. Volunteers will be trained in technology, cybersafety, and adult learning principles to effectively support older adults. Five workshops will be conducted to provide hands-on training and support. Establishing a volunteer-led knowledge hub at the Miss Doris V. Lowe Resource Hub. Targeted strategies will be employed to engage vulnerable older adults, including collaboration with local stakeholders and leaders from Aboriginal and culturally and linguistically diverse populations. Marketing and outreach efforts will promote the project and encourage community participation. Volunteers will be trained to offer emotional support to older adults, particularly those with life-limiting illnesses, to reduce loneliness and foster a sense of community. |
Neurofibromatosis Association of Western Australia | Focus: Disability services, health, mental health. Engage a Project Officer to undertake NFAWA volunteer workforce need, knowledge and skills gap analysis. Identify regular and flexible volunteer role opportunities, prepare role descriptions, deliverables, outcomes and ongoing development, feedback and recognition program. Develop volunteer induction manual including review of key policies and procedures. Undertake volunteer recruitment, induction and team building meetings. Develop and implement volunteer mentoring and training program and calendar, including designation of mentors and identification of free and affordable training opportunities. Recruit skilled volunteers to support the project activities. |
Belmont Business Enterprise Centre | Focus: Other. Deliver cultural workshops with volunteers to understand the needs of and support objective cohorts group/s. Provide training opportunities for volunteers to facilitate empowerment activities. |
Team Connect WA | Focus: Community services, sport and recreation, young people, cultural and ethnic groups. Train teenage girls to be volunteers/coaches/leaders. These girls will then work with Team Connect and an external provider to run a four-week program at the local primary school, coaching cricket to primary school. The program will include full support by a Youth Worker and Volunteer Manager for the young people volunteering. |
South West Aboriginal Women’s Collective | Focus: Community services, welfare and homelessness, First Nations, human rights, justice and legal. Strengthen the cultural knowledge and facilitation skills of Aboriginal women and girl volunteers through workshops and mentoring. Building volunteer confidence in leading culturally safe discussions that honour Aboriginal women’s voices and experiences. Supporting intergenerational knowledge sharing between Aboriginal women and girl volunteers. Volunteer capacity building through peer networks. Creating structured opportunities for experienced Aboriginal women volunteers to mentor emerging volunteer leaders. Developing facilitation and leadership skills that enable our volunteers to effectively support other Aboriginal women and girls. Establishing sustainable peer support networks among our volunteers to share knowledge and maintain cultural strength. |
The Muslim Women’s Support Centre of WA | Focus: Community services, welfare and homelessness, cultural and ethnic groups. Employ a volunteer manager that will develop and implement a robust volunteer program to engage, retain and recruit. To run cultural workshop in order for volunteers to developed culturally appropriate responses. Regular training workshops to upskill and empower volunteers. |
Future Living Trust | Focus: Disability services. Dedicate staff resources to the development and implementation of the Volunteer Program. Engage a consultant to provide expert advice on the Volunteer Management Plan, including policies and procedures. Digitise volunteer resources for all volunteers. Engage a training consultant to develop and create an online learning program using a co-design approach with volunteers. An evaluation phase to ensure the program is meeting the capacity building needs of the volunteer programs. |
Iqra Foundation Australia | Focus: Community services; welfare and homelessness; cultural and ethnic groups; education and training; human rights; justice and legal; mental health; religious; faith-based and spiritual; sport and recreation; young people. Provide cultural sensitivity and working with vulnerable people workshops and time and place induction training. Focus groups will be held on a monthly basis to consider gaps in volunteer provisions. Volunteers will be firmly embedded in women and youth empowerment initiatives. Develop a funnel of volunteer retention that will not only seek to cultivate an all-round more enjoyable and fulfilling experience but also provide a pathway for traineeships and advancing their careers. |
UWA Guild Volunteering | Focus: Education and training. Create a Female Volunteer program that advocates and promotes safe environments for all female students within the UWA community who are experiencing isolation or fear of discrimination. The project will partner with the UWA Guild Women’s Department. |
Kangaroo Haven | Focus: Animal welfare, environment. Support and expand the Kangaroo Haven Youth Engagement and Volunteer Development Program, which provides volunteer opportunities for disengaged youth, many of whom are Indigenous and involved with youth justice in the East Kimberley region. The funding will focus on building volunteer capacity, improving volunteer management practices, and ensuring program sustainability. |
Enterprise Partnerships WA | Focus: Education and training, First Nations, arts and heritage, mental health. Provide cultural awareness workshops to volunteers, additional training to existing volunteers, establishing of volunteer policy and practice and celebrate and acknowledge existing volunteers. |
Gaining Ground WA | Focus: Education and training, sport and recreation, young people. Strengthen the capability of volunteers to support the mental wellbeing of up to 1,200 women and girls who Gaining Ground WA supports through soccer club workshops, mentorship programs, and wellbeing events in the Perth Metropolitan area. This training will equip volunteers to better understand and respond to the diversity of needs faced by our program participants, in order to create a culture of belonging and an inclusive, safe, and accessible environment. |
Short Back and Sidewalks | Focus: Community services, welfare and homelessness. Design and implement a training program for our volunteer workforce in 2025 covering topics that are designed to look after both our clients’ wellbeing, as well as our volunteers’ wellbeing. This will include areas such as mental health first aid particularly in relation to the target cohorts of this grant program, trauma informed practice, cultural awareness, referral techniques, self-care and resilience for volunteers. |
The successful recipients demonstrated potential to make a positive impact on vulnerable groups within Western Australia.
