Bushfire Rapid Response Grant Program for Tenterfield and Clarence
The NRCF, in partnership with Fire to Flourish has distributed more than $290,00 in emergency bushfire funding for fire affected communities.
With so many people impacted by fire across Tenterfield and Clarence LGAs, the Bushfire Rapid Response Grant Program was launched quickly and professionally to support fire impacted communities to get support to those who most need it. In what is already shaping up as an active bushfire season, we moved quickly to get funds to fire impacted residents in both:
- Clarence: 44 projects supported, with a total of $138,700 in grants
- Tenterfield: 54 projects supported, with a total of $154,555 in grants
With so many people impacted by fire across these LGAs, the Bushfire Rapid Response Grant Program has been launched to get support to those who most need it. NRCF CEO Sam Henderson said the Foundation was committed to delivering, in this time of need for NSW communities.
Properties with fire damage will be eligible to receive a grant of $3,000, subject to program guidelines. Funding applications are straightforward and turnaround is intended to be quick, filling the gap prior to the availability of other disaster response.
“The NRCF is responsive because we know that a Community Foundation plays a unique role in a disaster. We are well connected in the communities we serve already, and we can move with agility,”
Mr Henderson said.
“We already have grants out to people who are fire affected – our commitment is to deliver, to support, as quickly as we can and with the strong governance and process that has established us as a trusted partner in times of crisis.”
The Bushfire Rapid Response Program is made possible through NRCF’s partnership with Monash University for the Fire to Flourish Program. Established in response to the Black Summer 2019/20 bushfires – which greatly impacted Tenterfield and Clarence LGAs, Fire to Flourish is again stepping up to support these communities which now find themselves impacted by the 2023 bushfire season.
The Fire to Flourish model is an innovative model known as participatory grant making, which features community co-design groups. These groups help represent what the community needs and what they believe will support them best.
Tenterfield and Clarence regions’ co-design groups had already identified feeling nervous about the predicted serious 2023/24 bushfire season before the November fires blazed. This was true across Nymboida and Tabulum, all of which are in bushfire susceptible areas.
NRCF’s Sam Henderson said this community knowledge was vital for creating the funding pool that is now being used to respond rapidly to the current fires.
“The Fire to Flourish community engagement team have been incredible in their commitment and drive to get this happening. The Bushfire Rapid Response Grants have been made possible because community understand and know the region they live in. They know what they need – and this partnership has allowed us to listen and tailor this rapid response grant program to support them in the best way possible.”
If you would like to make a donation to NRCF’s Recovery and Resilience Fund, which supports communities through disaster in the early, medium and long-term phases of recovery – you can do so by visiting the Recovery and Resilience Fund here. Thank you for your support.
Fire to Flourish is a partnership between Monash University’s Sustainable Development Institute and the NRCF. Cornerstone funding is generously provided by the Paul Ramsay Foundation and Metal Manufactures Pty Ltd, with additional funding from the Lowy Foundation.