A busy november at Tin Shed with community programs kicking off
Community grants
Applications for the first round of the Douglas Community & Sports Club’s grants program close this Friday with everyone invited to apply.
Grants of up to $4000 are available to local not-for-profits, clubs and organisations for anything that benefits the local community.
Tin Shed’s general manager, Kyle Livingston, said that while the pandemic has been tough for the waterfront venue, giving back to the community is part of the club’s ethos.
“We are lucky here to have done a pretty constant trade and have the support that we’ve had in recent times and we know that others have had it much tougher than us.”
In the past, grant programs have operated under various guidelines with various funding models but according to the GM, this round will be different.
“We’re not getting the money from anywhere else, we’re just using it from what we’ve been able to make.”
Another change from prior years is the availability and timing.
“This time we really want to do monthly grants so that the money is ready and available when it’s needed,” Kyle said.
“I’ve got a dozen applications sitting on my desk right now and I think there’s a few more coming in as well. After the deadline at 5pm this Friday I’ll be checking eligibility and finding the most worthy and then going from there. The next round will follow that up quite quickly and by then we want to have a good idea of who can’t get government funding; who can’t get what they need; who can’t get the amount that they need, etc. and then prioritise and allocate the funds.”
Griefline
Griefline is another new initiative from the Tin Shed and it's designed to be an outlet for the residents of the Douglas Shire to get things off their chest; not just mental health problems either, Kyle says it could, for example, be isolation or remoteness issues as well.
“Griefline is designed to be a source that residents can utilise for anything at all on the grief spectrum, no matter how big or small. It can be mental health if that’s what people need it for but it doesn’t have to be. It’s simply, hey guys, I’m having trouble at the moment I want to speak to someone.”
What Kyle really wants to get behind with the Tin Shed is the Care to Call project. This is a service where the centre will actually call you every week for 12 weeks and help you with whatever you need. There’s been a lot of success with this in regional victoria and Kyle is excited about its potential impact here.
“Douglas Shire has an aging population and we’re also very remote; some parts of the Shire are incredibly remote. There’s no time like the present to make sure that people can be heard if they need to be heard,” he said.
Kyle said he heard about Griefline and reached out to find out if it could work for Douglas Shire.
“I asked Griefline a million and one questions to find out how it works and how we go about it. At this stage we’re going to be covering the costs of the hotline for our Shire but it's quite a cost and so the Tin Shed has got the ball rolling but we’ve also reached out to a few businesses around the area as well.”
The concept is one that Kyle believes will take off soon and he hopes that other regions follow the Tin Shed’s lead.
“All the money that we’re supplying is to help services in our region because that’s what we want. I think it’s only a matter of time until other areas see what the Douglas Shire is doing and hopefully we can get the conversation started for others as well.”
Busy schedule at Tin Shed
The Tin Shed recently had their Annual General Meeting which resulted in some new faces at the table. Grant Pheasant from Pavillions and Ross Wood from Volunteer Marine Rescue are now on the committee and there is a new club patron as well.
“Warren Entsch was the club patron for several years but we’ve gone back to our local roots and approached Deputy Mayor Lisa Scomazzon. We’re very excited to be working with Lisa and to form that bond with council so we can get moving in the same direction,” Kyle said.
There is certainly plenty happening at the Tin Shed at the moment and right through until Christmas. With the Melbourne Cup lunch and the highly anticipated Hotshots ladies night also scheduled for November, it’s going to be a very busy month at the Tin Shed.
To keep up to date on community programs and events, follow the Tin Shed on Facebook or head to the website.
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