Being part of a community is about involvement, connection and togetherness. That feeling of true comradeship with others not only helps provide a sense of purpose and belonging, but it also has a positive effect on our overall health and wellbeing.
My Community Project is all about local ideas, local projects and local decisions. It was the first community initiative funded by the NSW Generations Fund and has allowed residents across NSW to propose and vote for new initiatives in their local district.
The Power of Collective Action
My Community Project was designed to give communities a say in how funding in their area would be used. Through the program, NSW residents had the opportunity to shape the future development of their local community in a way that had not been attempted in NSW before.
What did we do?
In July 2019, The NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet joined forces with Service NSW to create a purpose-built digital voting platform to support a state-wide engagement of NSW residents. People submitted great ideas to benefit local communities. The system provided residents the opportunity to register and vote for up to five of their favourite projects in their local community. In addition to the online platform, Service NSW also supported customers to vote at their service centres, including the new mobile-service centres.
All residents aged over 16 were encouraged and supported to participate in the process, whether nominating projects that they believed would benefit their local community or helping to shape the future of their community by voting.
What was the end result?
The NSW Government invested $24.6 million in funding and awarded 248 projects across NSW to help improve the wellbeing of the people and communities that live there. Each successful project was selected based on the level of support received from over 61,000 votes cast by the community and was awarded between $20,000 and $200,000 in funding. Each project shares the same set of goals: to make the community more liveable, cultural, accessible, safe, revitalised and healthy.
Funded projects are now delivering a range of services, equipment and facilities to communities across the state that may not have been successful, or even proposed, through more traditional grant funding methods.
Some great standout projects include building an accessible sensory garden for people with disability or disadvantage, as well as an upcycle community engagement project which involves running repair cafes, upcycling workshops and other activities in schools, and the community to reduce clothing waste.
Upgrading the meals on wheels program was another successfully funded project, which helps to improve choice and quality of meals.
Another award-winning team is constructing an inclusive, interactive and organic adventure playground.
The team is reviewing future projects that could be funded.