Backing Ballarat’s volunteers and not-for-profits
21/11/2024Ballarat’s non-profit and volunteer organisations now have a central hub to use to support vulnerable community members, thanks to the opening of the Ballarat Foundation Giving Hub.
Creation of the hub, located at Lydiard Street South’s Hugh Williamson House, was made possible by a Victorian Government investment of more than $1 million and delivered in partnership with Ballarat Foundation United Way Inc.
An important local and regional charity, Ballarat Foundation United Way services around 220,000 clients per year from across several local government areas. Its vision is to create a local community, free from disadvantage, where all people are empowered to prosper.
The new hub will support this vision by offering modern, smart office and meeting spaces for various groups, all under one roof and at competitive rates.
This will reduce overhead costs for volunteer groups and not-for-profits, affording them greater resources to support people doing it tough in and around Ballarat.
Recognising the need for flexibility, the hub offers a range of access options for eligible service providers. These include pay-per-use and one-off bookings, fixed-term office tenancies and ongoing, repeat bookings.
The building also now features an accessible entrance, ensuring people of all ages and abilities can put the new facilities to good use.
Importantly, Hugh Williamson House will bring together like-minded organisations and encourage greater collaboration from service providers. This is expected to lead to the development of even more effective and efficient responses that will better help people in Ballarat and beyond.
Andrew Eales, CEO of the Ballarat Foundation, said the opening marked the fruition of two-decades of work and advocacy.
‘This is a momentous occasion, with the opening of the Ballarat Foundation Giving Hub signifying and celebrating a positive community collaboration which has been more than 20 years in the making,’ he said.
Funding for the Ballarat Foundation Giving Hub at Hugh Williamson House forms part of our record investment of $45 billion over the past decade into projects and programs across our regions.
It’s part of our ongoing work to make rural and regional Victorian cities and towns even better places to live, work, stay and play.