15 NSW based charities, including nine from the Newcastle and Hunter region, have been awarded $930,000 worth of funding grants for life-changing projects at the May 2021 Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation Grant Ceremony.

“These Charitable Foundation grants will enable projects and initiatives that directly address disadvantage, marginalisation or isolation for people, from much-needed health projects, initiatives that help vulnerable young people, to programs that build resilient and connected communities in Newcastle and Hunter,” said Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation Chair, Jennifer Leslie.

“To date the Charitable Foundation has now funded over 500 projects and as of today has given over $23.5-million to charities and not for profits. This funding has helped to rewrite the future of so many our local community, enabling us to work together with our charity partners in all corners of the state to solve problems, lend helping hands, secure improvements, ensure security, offer hope and give support to those in need.”

The projects which will benefit the Hunter and Newcastle communities from this funding round are:

• $125,000 for PCYCs ground-breaking new youth mental health pilot program, GRIT.
• $64,000 for the Northern Wheelchair Basketball program expansion.
• $55,000 to fund 700 sessions of youth counselling in Port Stephens, delivered by Caring for our Port Stephens Youth (COPSY)
• $124,000 for the Nicholas Butters Trust for the Building Beautiful Memories NICU palliative care room at John Hunter Hospital.
• $60,000 for the Mirabel Foundation’s therapeutic intervention for young people recovering from crisis initiative.
• $32,000 for Friends with Dignity’s Sanctuary Program, delivering domestic violence refuge and crisis support.
• $78,000 for Centre for Hope (Hope on the Streets) pop up COVIDSafe Outreach program being delivered at Rutherford, Toronto, Gateshead and Wallsend.
• $90,000 for CanTeen to establish the region’s first Cancer Hub in Newcastle
• $70,000 for Atwea to purchase seven mobile science labs and related consumables for 7 Alesco Senior College campuses operating across the Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Hunter, Port Stephens and Mid-North Coast areas.

“These projects have been recognised and funded by the Charitable Foundation because we know that they will make a tangible difference in the lives of people in need of these services and support in the Newcastle and Hunter region,” Jennifer said.

Local recipients today received their grants at the Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation Grant Ceremony, hosted by the Foundation in Newcastle.

Centre for Hope says the Charitable Foundation support will enable outreach to young people, particularly across the Tomaree and Rutherford areas.

“During COVID we were unable to go to schools and suddenly over 300 young people went without our support. This funding allows us to extend our reach to places where there is a need, to support to young people who live in amazing places but feel they don’t belong,” said Centre for Hope CEO Geraldine Moran.

CanTeen plans to spend its funds on reimagining its Kotara premises into Newcastle’s first Cancer Hub, a one stop shop for families and individuals to access information and services from various cancer support organisations in one location.

“By bringing cancer organisations together, there are proven benefits of co-location from cost-savings to collaboration opportunities. This grant will enable cancer services in Newcastle to collaborate in a way that we haven’t before, ensuring families impacted by cancer have access to an easier pathway of support,” said Angie Elder, State Manager CanTeen.

The $32,000 funding grant will assist Friends with Dignity to grow the charity and provide more immediate support to the region’s victims of domestic violence.

“We are fully dependent on grants like this one and donations. This will enable us to provide a sanctuary for victims more quickly and provide them with items they need to transition from crisis accommodation to a new permanent home,” said CEO Manuela Whitford.

The grant for the Nicholas Butters Trust will be used to create a space to give comfort, solace and privacy to parents of a terminally ill baby, giving them time to build beautiful and everlasting memories surrounded by love and support.

“The $124,000 grant from the Charitable Foundation will enable the Building Beautiful Memories project which will see a facility built within the NICU unit where parents who lose their baby pre-natal to, in the days and months after birth, grieve the loss of their beloved baby,” said Jenny Butters, founder of The Nicholas Trust in honour of her son.

In total the Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation is today presenting $486,000 to Hunter and Newcastle based charities and not-for-profits.

“It is truly inspiring to see the impact the projects we fund, and our charity partners deliver, have on improving health, youth and social outcomes. The initiatives our grants support really connect and enable individuals within local communities and provide opportunity where, in many cases, it otherwise would not be available,” Jennifer said.

“The projects that received this funding today will kick off in coming months and are all scheduled to be completed within two years, allowing the community to reap the benefits of these initiatives and services as soon as possible.”

View the full list of May 2021 Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation Grant Recipients.