Wee Waa CWA hall set for $84,906 glow up

The Wee Waa branch of the Country Women’s Association is “over the moon” to receive $84,906 in funding for the upgrade of its hall, thanks to a NSW government infrastructure grant.

The club grants program supports community infrastructure such as a multipurpose hub or a service for an eligible group.

“The hall hasn’t been touched for quite a few years – we’re over the moon,” said CWA Wee Waa branch president Denise Robinson.

“This will go a long way to giving us a rebirth.

“It’s to upgrade our facilities and the biggest chunk of the money will go into making our bathrooms more accessible, especially for our ladies and gentlemen who come in and might have a walking stick or frames because at the moment it’s just a small door and it can be very hard for them to get into the facilities.

“We’re hoping, now we have money to upgrade the hall, that we will be able to have conferences here.

“Anyone can hire the hall; it’s been hired for everything from wakes to ‘sip and paint’ events.

“The vets and Healthwise hire it too – it’s here for the public.”

Wee Waa advocate Ethan Towns helped the CWA secure the sizable financial boost by assisting with the grant writing and application process.

“I was at the Arts and Cultural Centre when CWA president Denise came up to me and said they were going to do a ‘$100 for 100’ fundraiser (as part of the branch’s 100th anniversary celebrations) for the upgrades and I just thought ‘she’s not going to be able to rack up enough money for what they wanted to do’ so I offered to write up a grant,” explained Mr Towns.

While Mr Towns sees merit in traditional fundraising initiatives such as 100 clubs, trivia nights and cake stalls; he’s passionate about encouraging community members to make the most of grant opportunities.

“When I founded Wee Waa Rotaract, we decided grants were going to be one of our sources because we’re a town of 2000 people and we can’t keep taking from the community all the time to support us.

“Constantly asking the same people for money, we can’t expect the world especially when it comes to big projects.

“Grants are competitive but a lot of things in Wee Waa haven’t been upgraded in years, so we’re quite likely to get these grants.

“We should be pushing for grants, there’s money out there.”

Mr Towns offered the CWA assistance earlier this year before he was elected to Narrabri Shire Council in September, however, the energetic 26-year-old said he would continue to use his voice – as a councillor and local representative – to urge groups and individuals ‘to have a go’ and submit grant applications to improve their towns, villages, and resources.

“The council’s grants officer will help. If you have absolutely no idea what to do and need some pointers,” he said.

“And you can always come to me too.

“Even if you’re in the smaller towns – Pilliga and Gwabegar – reach out to me and we can see what we can get done.”

Proud to be born and bred in Wee Waa, Mr Towns’ drive to make the district the best that it can be seems to know no bounds.

Having happily completed both primary and high school in the Cotton Capital, it was actually Mr Towns’ decision to venture beyond the levee for university that kick-started his mission to make a difference at home.

“I love it here, but I realised how much we didn’t have,” he said.

“When I went to college at UNE in Armidale and I saw all these groups of young people and how much they do, I got involved – there was never a dull moment.

“And when I came back to Wee Waa for my Honours work, I realised we were missing some things, I saw crumbling infrastructure and I thought – I’ve learned so much over there that while I’m in Wee Waa, I’m going to bring what I’ve learned here.

“I want to make sure that if, at one point, I ever leave Wee Waa that everything’s been upgraded and that facilities are in amazing condition.

“I want to inspire and help some of the groups, like the CWA, to keep a sense of vigour because they’ve had the same set-up for a long time, and they should be going into a modern era.

“Hopefully the younger generation, like me, can start joining these groups.”

Mr Towns’ generosity with helping the CWA secure a $84,906 grant means he’s likely to be in the running to become an ‘honorary male member’ of the Wee Waa women’s group.

“We’d like to see some new members,” said Mrs Robinson, who expressed the CWA branch’s gratitude to Mr Towns and the NSW government for the grant.

“The CWA is a worthwhile cause – a way to help the community and our little town.

“And it’s great for socialisation as well,” she explained.

“It’s not a big thing if you can’t make it to all the meetings.

“We’re looking into other things we can do for the community next year like helping with the kids’ breakfast at Wee Waa Public School.”

Member for Barwon Roy Butler highlighted the significance of the grants program is in his recent newsletter.

“Clubs in regional areas often struggle for membership or find it much harder than big city organisations to make the kind of revenue needed for projects like renovations or buying essential equipment, which is why the club grants program is so important,” said Mr Butler’s newsletter.

“I want to congratulate those organisations that were successful in the latest round of club grants.

“Across NSW, 46 projects have been selected to receive a share of the $6.4 million in grant funding.

The successful organisations in

Barwon are:

• The Country Women’s Association of Wee Waa, who will be getting $84,00 for the upgrade of the CWA Hall.

• Baradine Preschool which will receive $225,120 toward the construction of the Long Day-care Centre.

• The CWA in Collie will be receiving $54,000 for the construction of a shade structure over an outdoor playground.

• The Warren Youth Foundation will be getting $93,550 for the upgrade of the Warren Youth Centre Community Hub.

Applications are also now open for Club Grants Category 3 Fund, Infrastructure Grants.

The Club Grants Category 3 Fund is managed by the Office of Responsible Gambling and funds infrastructure grants for arts and culture, community, disaster readiness, and sport and recreation.

Infrastructure Grants can be used toward the costs of construction, alteration, renovation, completion and fit-out of buildings and community infrastructure in the following areas:

• Arts & Culture: $50,000 to $200,000 available per project.

• Community Infrastructure: $50,000 to $250,000 available per project.

• Disaster Readiness: $50,000 to $200,000 available per project.

• Sport & Recreation: $50,000 to $300,000 available per project.