reflections from our 2025 impact tour

A Closer Look at Community Impact Across Ballarat

Last Friday our board directors and team members spent the day visiting a number of local programs supported through the Ballarat Foundation’s Community Impact Grants. The Impact Tour was designed to give people a chance to see and hear the stories and impact of our work. It gives us the chance to step out from behind our desks and see the work happening in real time, led by the people who know the issues in the community best.

Throughout the day we heard directly from program leaders. Our first stop was Ballarat Community Health where we heard from Deb Greenslade about the Food Access Network. Alex Bell spoke about two projects, Expect Respect and Gender Equality in Sporting Clubs. We also heard from our own Community Impact Manager, Nina FitzSimons, about the Ballarat Vital Signs Report 2025.

Expect Respect is a school based program delivered by Ballarat Community Health with Year 10 students across a number of local schools. The program supports young people to understand consent and boundaries, challenge harmful attitudes and build more respectful relationships. The Ballarat Foundation is proud to fund Expect Respect through our Community Impact Grants.

Pictured below: Tameaka Lakey and Alex Bell speak about Expect Respect. Tameaka, Deb Greenslade and Alex Bell and Nina FitzSimons speaking about Ballarat Vital Signs 2025.

Community support in action

Our next stop was the Community Care Centre, a warehouse that holds whitegoods, furniture, household items, kitchenware and bedding, that has been donated and would otherwise end up in landfill. Every item is checked, cleaned and in complete working order before it is passed on. The centre supports women and families who have fled family violence to set up safe homes of their own with everything they need to start again.

The Community Care Centre is powered by 2,600 volunteer hours and supports 14 welfare organisations. In the past year it has distributed more than $250,000 in household goods and has helped build a strong local network of support. The Community Care Centre was funded via the Ballarat Innovation Grant.

Below: Ballarat Foundation team touring the Community Care Centre.

Collaboration Strengthens Our Community

Strong community relationships sit at the heart of everything the Ballarat Foundation aims to achieve. The Food Access Network shows what is possible when local organisations stay connected and share resources so families can access nutritious food with dignity. The Community Care Centre reflects that same understanding. Volunteers, welfare agencies and donors all work side by side to make sure women and families have what they need to set up safe homes. These programs only work because people choose to work together. When our community collaborates, we can achieve far more than any one organisation could do on its own.

Our day out on the Impact Tour showed the strength of community organisations across Ballarat and the real difference they make every day. These programs are changing lives in practical and lasting ways, and we are proud to support them through our Community Impact Grants. We look forward to continuing this work and helping local leaders create a future where everyone in our community feels supported and able to thrive.