November 22, 2017
The community hall at SBcare in Kingaroy will receive a much-needed makeover thanks to $20,000 funding from the Federal Government.
Member for Maranoa David Littleproud announced the funding at the centre on Tuesday.
SBcare CEO Cheryl Dalton said the money would be used to paint and buy equipment for the area, which is used regularly by a number of community groups including the Senior Citizens.
The current evaporative air conditioning will be replaced with modern air-conditioning which will be quieter, cooler and more efficient.
New tables and chairs are also on Cheryl’s wish list.
“Under the Stronger Communities Program, SBcare will receive $20,000 to make safety improvements and paint the hall, install air-conditioning, add a level outdoor area and purchase new equipment,” Mr Littleproud said.
“SBcare is an aged and disability community care service working across the South Burnett region, and organised this funding application to upgrade the hall so it meets a variety of needs and can be used by a larger array of community groups.
“Under the funding guidelines, projects had to deliver social benefits. SBcare’s proposal will help more than 10 community groups to safely access this community space for free or at a concessional charge.”
SBcare chairman Paul Laurentiussen said due to its age, the hall was in need of some maintenance work.
“This funding will be appreciated by all hall users,” he said.
“The funding will probably be earmarked to upgrade the old gas heaters and evaporative coolers, something that will be a real asset to this facility and the users of the hall.”
Cheryl said SBcare was very grateful to have been considered as a recipient of the grant.
“Infrastructure funding is difficult to come by and we appreciate David’s interest in both SBcare and the community that we work with. This grant will make a big difference in our aim to upgrade the hall over the next year.”
In July, Mr Littleproud put out a call to community groups asking: “What would you do with $20,000?”
He said he was overwhelmed by the calibre and array of projects nominated for the Stronger Communities Program funding.
“The project nominations were of a high standard and I received more than 50 applications seeking more than $500,000 in funding,” he said.
All Federal electorates were allocated $150,000 under the program, with up to 20 projects being able to be funded.
An Independent Assessment Panel reviewed all the applications and successful projects were then invited to progress to the next phase, where projects were reviewed by the Industry Department for final approval.
