Applications for the July Round of the Shire of SJ’s Community Grants Program are now open!

See below for more information on how we could support your organisation. Applications close 5:00pm Monday 10 March 2025.

Major Event Grants:

Grants between $5,000 to $20,000 ex GST are available to support local community groups in the delivery of a community, sporting or cultural event that is of significance to the Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale community and attracts attendees from the Shire, the Peel Region, and surrounds.

All grant applications should align with the following principles:

• Promote a sense of community and inclusion across the Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale.
• Help residents be healthy, active, and engaged in community life.
• Encourage the development of locally led and delivered projects and activities.
• Celebrate diversity and cultural heritage.
• Support projects that are in line with Shire plans and objectives.
• Are innovative and of a high quality.

See our Guidelines for Major Event Grants for eligibility and application information.

General Grants:

Grants of up to $5,000 ex GST are available to provide financial assistance for registered not-for-profit organisations and incorporated community groups for initiatives relevant to the Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale community. All funded applications must be completed and acquitted within 6 months of being advised they were successful. See our Guidelines for General Grants for eligibility and application information.

Year-Round Small Grants:

Please remember that the Friendly Neighbourhood Grant, the Sporting Travel Grant, and the Youth Leadership and Training Grant are available all year round.

Make sure to contact an Officer from the Shire’s Community Development and Sport and Recreation Teams prior to applying and discuss if your group or club’s idea is suitable for an application.

For more information or assistance regarding the grants, please phone (08) 9526 1111. Further information and relevant application forms can be found on the Shire’s website.

The Community Sporting and Recreation Facilities Fund (CSRFF) and Club Night Lights Program (CNLP) small grants round is open!

If you’re a community sport or recreation organisation, local government, or sport or active recreation club wanting to upgrade your facilities, apply now for financial support.

The types of projects considered for funding include new playing surfaces, upgraded floodlighting, improved change rooms and amenities, BMX or pump track construction and much more.

For more information and to apply, visit the program webpages below.

Club night lights Program Community Sporting and Recreation Facilities Fund

Now is a good time for local winter sports clubs and district associations to consider applying for funding through Healthway's Healthy Sports Program. The program supports the health and wellbeing of young people so they can perform at their best. Under the program, junior sports clubs and district associations can request up to $4,000 in funding to implement healthy eating initiatives and improve canteen facilities. Find out more.

Committees of sporting clubs are tasked with the role of making choices (decisions) around the future direction of the community you serve (club and members).

A Strategic Plan is important for Sporting Clubs as it;

• Identifies the vision and objectives of the club,
• Looks at where the club has come from, where it is now, where it wants to go and how it is going to get there,
• Is a management tool for the Committee to measure the performance of the club and answer the question - Are we doing the right thing?
• Communicates club activities to members,
• Brings order and organisation into the hectic business of running a club,
• Is an effective marketing tool that can be used to set you apart from other clubs/sports,
• Is an easy reference to explain what you are all about which encourages members to be involved in club development and builds volunteer commitment,
• Adjusts to changes in the current environment that may have an impact on the club and ensures that resources (human, physical and financial) are used effectively,
• An eligibility requirement for grant funding. A Strategic Plan will demonstrate how the funding of the project/program aligns with the vision and forecasted growth of the club.

Contact the Shire’s Sport and Recreation Team on 9526 1111 and we can work with your club Committee to help prepare a Strategic Plan.

Sport Australia’s Game Plan is a digital platform designed to provide sporting clubs of all sizes with insights into their current capability and connect them with specific tools and resources to build and support ongoing development.

Game Plan is a free online platform that allows sporting clubs of all sizes to get insights into their current capability in key areas of club administration, then supports ongoing club development with a suite of tools.

Clubs assess and evaluate their own environment, identifying their unique strengths and potential areas for improvement.

Volunteers are the heart of every club. Game Plan makes it easy for club leaders to assess and analyse information about holistic club operations, to make good immediate decisions whilst developing clear plans for the club’s future.

Click here to find out more.

True Sport

True Sport provides a cohesive, all-sport approach to align values, culture and practices of sport delivery across WA and enrich the sport experience for all participants.

True Sport aims to provide specialised support for sports to tackle industry challenges. As the overarching umbrella brand, there’s currently three initiatives;

• True Sport Mental Health & Wellbeing;
• True Sport Child Safeguarding, and;
• True Sport Sideline Behaviour

Click here to find out more.

Shine a Light on Mental Health Walk 2025

The Sarah Ford Foundation is planning a walk for all ages and abilities on Friday 28th March, from 5:00pm to 8:00pm.

The walk will primarily be raising funds for the Sarah Ford Foundation - we are established to be a charity whose purpose is to alleviate the negative impact of mental health symptoms and to assist in the prevention of the further deterioration of mental health; by providing exercise services to women who have experienced domestic violence, poverty and homelessness. We are a fully registered not-for-profit with the Australian Not-for-profit Charities Commission (ACNC) and hold all the applicable licenses.

I am inviting members of the public from Byford and surrounds to attend the event which will be $10 for adults, $5 for 16 years to 18 years and free for those under 16 years. In Byford, in the 2021 Census 1,785 adults stated that they were experiencing long term mental health conditions - in particular anxiety and depression. I also know that within our Shire - many people are lonely and loneliness is a precursor to depression. Therefore, this event will see everyone involved walking as many laps as we can to get to 1,785.

I hope to invite Shire President Rob Coales to talk and also Hugh Jones if they are free.

I am looking to have some live music, a sausage sizzle, an ice cream van and a face painter.

I would like to ask yourselves as the local sporting clubs if when we get the event approved, please would you consider sharing this event with your members and their families to take part in - to bring as many people along as possible. To really show that collectively as a Shire we care about mental health in our community.

The funds that will be raised will go towards helping to start a unique service in WA that will help women who are survivors of family and domestic violence (FDV) to regain their lives through exercise. This is planned to start in January 2026. FDV has reached abhorrent levels within the community and we all have a part to play in uniting to say that this is not acceptable and that we stand against FDV.

Although this event is primarily to raise funds for the Foundation, I also would like this to be a time where I invite yourselves - as the local sporting clubs - to have stalls to bring awareness to the community about your services. What services do you offer to the community and how taking part in local sport can positively impact mental health. I have recently met with Minister Templeman, who is the Minister for Sport and Recreation and we were discussing particularly the need to bring women into sport.

I would love to see as many sporting clubs as possible come a long and show that they support sport/exercise for mental health.

I am trying to stand for big change in our community regarding how people view exercise, and at the same time bring a much needed service to our Byford and to our neighbouring City of Armadale. Your support would be gratefully received and much appreciated.

If you could please reach out to me via the Foundation's email if you are keen to take part and/or if you happy to share this event amongst your members and their families. If you could RSVP ASAP, that would be really great, thank you.

admin@sarahfordfoundation.org

Thank you for taking the time to read about this event, and please let me know if you have any questions.