Community grants in action

A City of Ballarat community grant has provided The Salvation Army Karinya Support Services low-fee childcare centre with an upgrade to its outdoor playspace and basketball court, located in Pleasant Street.

With the sun shining down on the bright green grass and colourful play equipment, the outdoor play space at the Salvation Army Karinya Support Services’ childcare centre in Soldiers Hill is much loved by children and parents alike.

With rubaroc flooring - a soft, skid-free rubber-based material - and a sandpit filled with toys, the quality and beauty of the space is perhaps not what you’d expect to see at a low-fee childcare centre. However, childcare operators Louise Jeffrey and Tiffany Foster are keen to deconstruct this stigma.

“Part of having this space look so good is about showing our clients that we value and appreciate them,” Louise says. 

“We’re not just giving them secondhand things, we're giving them a beautiful space, which is what they deserve.”

The outdoor playspace is looking particularly fresh at the moment following upgrades made to it late last year, funded through a City of Ballarat Community Impact Grant. The grant covered the costs of installing new synthetic grass and a professional clean of the rubaroc flooring.

The grant also funded the installation of a three-metre fence around Karinya’s community basketball court in Pleasant Street, to protect passing cars from any stray basketballs, as well as the safety of participants. 

While Karinya’s childcare centre is open to anyone in the community requiring low-cost childcare, it also provides childcare services to the children of women who may have experienced homelessness or have left family violence and are accessing other services — such as supported housing or parenting programs — through Karinya Support Services.

That is why all childcare staff working at Karinya have been trained in trauma response, attachment theory and how to handle disclosures of family violence.

“With the rising cost of living affecting more and more families, being able to provide affordable childcare is essential,” Tiffany says.

The Community Impact Grant Program (CIGP) builds community capacity and fosters connections among community members and groups by funding initiatives that align with City of Ballarat priority areas.

The CIGP is open for applications now, closing 30 March.

For more information, visit the City of Ballarat grants page.