Community and Cultural Grants
Kitchen helpers South Head Anglican Parish - Community and Cultural Grants Recipient
Community and Cultural Grants Program 2025/26 is NOW CLOSED!
Applications are now closed for our 2025/26 program.
The key dates for 2025/2026 are:
- Applications open - Monday 31 March 2025
- Applications close - Sunday 11 May 2025 (midnight)
- Grants announced - mid-June 2025
- Funded projects may run between July 2025 and June 2026
Themes for the 2025/2026 round:
Council endorses identified themes on an annual basis and priority is given to applications that align with these.
For Community Grants themes are:
- Projects that activate places and spaces so that children, youth and families have safe and accessible places to meet, connect, celebrate and feel they belong.
- Projects that deliver high quality, relevant services and programs to meet the needs of children, youth and families. Projects that involve young people (12 - 24 years) must provide evidence that they have been co-designed with young people.
- Projects that that support mental health and positive wellbeing.
For Cultural Grants themes are:
- Projects, embedded in Woollahra, led by First Nations organisations or individuals which foster engagement, representation and positive relationships within the Woollahra community. Projects should focus on storytelling about culture, language and history which encourage truth telling.
- Projects that foster harmony and celebrate cultural diversity, strengthening social cohesion within the community.
- Projects that feature performing arts and live music (with an emphasis on outdoor experiences).
Woollahra Council Grants & Sponsorship Information Webinar
Learn about Council's grants & sponsorships, how to address the selection criteria and maximise your chance of a successful application.
March 2025 - See a copy of the presentation slides here(PDF, 5MB)
Watch a recording on the webinar below:
What are Community and Cultural Grant Projects?
1. Community projects
These include but are not limited to services/projects/activities which complement the Council’s own services and identified priorities in the areas of families, children and young people seniors, social isolation, mental health, cultural diversity, people with disability, community safety, domestic violence, and building community partnerships and networks. Projects must foster inclusion and be open to the community.
2. Cultural projects
This includes a broad range of cultural development initiatives that are in line with priorities identified by Council. Examples include but are not limited to performing and visual arts and crafts, literature, film, design, history and heritage and their expression through public debate, festivals, exhibitions, performances, creative space, competitions and public celebrations of importance to communities. Projects must foster inclusion and be open to the community.
Council's Community and Cultural Grants Program provides:
- Small grants of up to $3,000, available to non-profit community based organisations, groups or individuals, and
- Large grants of between $3,000 and $7,500, available to non-profit community based organisations or groups.
Policy and Guidelines
Read the Grants Policy(PDF, 691KB) and Grants Guidelines(PDF, 292KB) for information about the program.
Grant Recipients
View the list of previous successful grant recipients:
Grants in action
Centre 360 Youth Community Days
The Centre 360 Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) delivered 4 youth-led open days, each promoting a connected, vibrant and creative community by increasing engagement between diverse youth communities in Woollahra Municipality, representative leaders, community leaders and the general public.
The open days focused on addressing social isolation and loneliness, improving mental health, community connectivity and representation of the diversity of the local area, including those from First Nations and LGBTQIA+ communities.
This project provided vital opportunities for leadership for young people.
As one young person noted: "We had some really important people in the audience who listened to us and asked us important questions that made me think more deeply about things. It made me realise the impact I can have on people and I want to do more to have an impact on the lives of other young people".
Bludger Films
Bludger Films, one of our 2022 cultural grant recipients, used their funding to assist with the making of the short animated film ‘Tea Cups’, an exploration of Watsons Bay resident Don Ritchie’s contribution, to care for people experiencing mental health crisis. A spotlight on a valued Woollahra story, the film went on to be included in the tour with Flicker Fest: Best of Australia Shorts and became a finalist in the Aspen Short Film Festival and the Guadalajara Film Festival. The film’s win of the Best Animation category at the Sydney Film Festival, the St Kilda Short Film Festival, as well as the Yoram Gross Animation Award were well deserved accolades. Council was pleased to screen the film to the community at Double Bay Library during Mental Health Month in October 2023.
South Head Anglican Parish
South Head Anglican Parish utilised their 2023 community grant to deliver a monthly community lunch. Open to all, no matter faith the lunches resulted in friendships, social connection and a sense of belonging to a community. Sixty to sixty five people attended the lunches, enjoying conversation, entertainment, good food and company.
Days for Girls
One of our 2020 grant recipients Days for Girls at NCJWA NSW is a community ‘making project’ that we are proud to support. The project facilitates creating reusable sanitary care kits for girls and women in developing countries. Watch this short video to understand what is involved in the Days for Girls project.
Floorplan Studio Rockpool Residency
Unseen Worlds was an interdisciplinary project centred around Nielsen Park, produced by Floorplan Studio. The project delved into the intertidal ecologies and cultural history of Nielsen Park, a significant site for the Birrabirragal People.
Kirsty Kross: National Treasure
Image credit: Sammy Hawker
National Treasure was an exhibition at Woollahra Gallery at Redleaf that also activated the Murray Rose Swimming Pool with a celebratory performance spectacular on 14 December 2024 that was free, inclusive and participatory for the local community. Musicians from Woollahra performed as participants and were gifted treasures made by the artist, Kirsty Kross, in collaboration with Miroma Community Group. Workshops with pupils from Woollahra Preschool and senior citizens from Holdsworth also took place during the exhibition. To see the film of the performance, visit the Woollahra Gallery at Redleaf website.
Enquiries
For more information, please contact:
Telephone: 9391 7000
Email: grants@woollahra.nsw.gov.au
If you are interested in applying for a grant, please fill out the Grants Expression of Interest form and we will add you to our grants promotions list.