{"id":38702,"date":"2026-05-02T18:49:37","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T08:49:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=38702"},"modified":"2026-05-02T18:49:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T08:49:37","slug":"cultural-communities-craft-new-opportunities-as-applications-open-for-annual-grants-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2026\/05\/02\/cultural-communities-craft-new-opportunities-as-applications-open-for-annual-grants-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Cultural communities craft new opportunities as applications open for annual grants program"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p id=\"isPasted\">Twenty\u2011eight women from Arabic, Afghan and Indian backgrounds have turned their creative skills into a source of income thanks to a mentoring program supported by City of Newcastle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Applications will open on Monday for City of Newcastle\u2019s annual grants and sponsorship programs, which last year helped provide economic opportunities for a group of refugee and culturally diverse women through Shared World Collective\u2019s Make, Gather and Market initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newcastle.nsw.gov.au\/getmedia\/f01ec7da-3f1f-4a62-b43d-c51de46b1e5f\/MakeGatherMarket-WEB.JPG\" alt=\"\"><em>Shared World Collective founder Katrina Gulbrandsen<\/em>&nbsp;<em>with participants of the Make, Gather &amp; Market initiative selling hand-made products at Olive Tree Markets.&nbsp;<\/em>City of Newcastle\u2019s Executive Manager Media Economy Engagement and Corporate Affairs, Nick Kaiser said programs like this demonstrate how targeted funding can deliver practical, long-term benefits for the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur grants and sponsorships programs provide support across nine different streams to help organisations like Shared World Collective deliver initiatives that respond to local priorities, ease cost-of-living pressures for our community and contribute to a stronger Newcastle year-round,\u201d Mr Kaiser said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cApplicants can apply for grants of up to $25,000 across categories supporting social inclusion, upgrades to sports and recreation facilities, arts and culture initiatives, environmental projects and a wide range of events.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Participants in the Make, Gather &amp; Market program were given guidance and small business training to help them use their existing creative skills to create hand-made products they could sell at the Olive Tree Markets.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Shared World Collective Director Katrina Gulbrandsen said the program focused on building confidence, skills and pathways to economic participation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis grant gave us the resources to remove cost barriers and support participants all the way through from learning artisan skills to selling their work at local markets,\u201d Ms Gulbrandsen said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe program included visits to circular economy initiatives such as Full Circle Collective and The Makers Place to learn about sustainable sourcing and selling, as well as candle making, natural ink painting, sewing and hand embroidery workshops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cParticipants told us the experience was calming and empowering, and many gained confidence, business knowledge and pride in their skills while strengthening connections within the community.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>City of Newcastle\u2019s grants and sponsorships program supports initiatives that deliver social, cultural, environmental and economic benefits for the local community, with funding available through Infrastructure Grants, Community Support Grants and Event Sponsorship.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Event Sponsorship supports conferences and events of all sizes, including general, incubator and major events hosted across the city. Last weekend, national skate competition King of Concrete led by world champion and Olympic judge Renton Millar was held at Bar Beach after receiving support through the 2025 general event sponsorship.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Major Events supported include the Beach 5s weekend festival at Nobbys Beach, the 20<sup>th<\/sup>&nbsp;anniversary Hill to Harbour in March and OzTheatrics Junior Theatre Festival.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Recent Infrastructure Grant recipients include Stockton Bowling Club, which received funding for a disability access ramp and Kotara South Netball Club, which was supported to upgrade court lighting.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Community Support Grants assist projects across environment, arts, culture and history, social inclusion and sustainability. Previously, City of Newcastle has supported the Salvation Army to deliver weekly community lunches for the homeless and disadvantaged, and the Share Shop in Hamilton to expand their range of electric appliances and tools. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Applications for City of Newcastle\u2019s 2026 Grants and Sponsorships programs open 4 May and close 31 May.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To learn more or apply, visit&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/newcastle.nsw.gov.au\/community\/grants-and-sponsorships\">https:\/\/newcastle.nsw.gov.au\/community\/grants-and-sponsorships<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Twenty\u2011eight women from Arabic, Afghan and Indian backgrounds have turned their creative skills into a source of income thanks to a mentoring program supported by City of Newcastle. Applications will open on Monday for City of Newcastle\u2019s annual grants and sponsorship programs, which last year helped provide economic opportunities for a group of refugee and &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2026\/05\/02\/cultural-communities-craft-new-opportunities-as-applications-open-for-annual-grants-program\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Cultural communities craft new opportunities as applications open for annual grants program&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newcastle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38702"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38702\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38703,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38702\/revisions\/38703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}