Gargarro Botanic Garden was listed as one of the recipients for the first round of the Tiny Town Funds initiative from the Allan Labor Government.
On Wednesday, June 26, Member for Northern Victoria state Member for Northern Victoria Jaclyn Symes announced the list of 12 successful local community projects and groups in the Northern Victoria region.
"The Tiny Towns Fund empowers small communities to thrive, ensuring projects that locals are passionate about can become a reality,” Mrs Symes said.
According to Regional Development Victoria’s website, the Tiny Towns Funds grant was available to projects and groups in towns with populations of up to 5000 people to “deliver quality tourism and community facility projects.”
Grants of $5000 to $50,000 were available for each successful project.
Gargarro Botanic Garden in Girgarre received $30,595 to “deliver new signage.”
Gargarro project convener Athol 'Doc' McDonald said the new signage will be placed across the garden and will include donor acknowledgements, an acknowledgement of country, and directional signs.
Minister for Regional Development Gayle Tierney hopes the funds unlock the town’s “full potential.”
“We’re helping our tiniest towns reach their full potential with so many community-driven projects that will upgrade local facilities and encourage more visitors to Victoria’s vibrant regions,” Mrs Tierney said.
The Gargarro Botanic Garden is just one of 200 community projects across regional Victoria that were successful Tiny Town Funds initiative funding.
The community garden has also seen success in other funding recently, receiving $10,000 from the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal (FRRR) grant program to assist in “purchasing a reliable ride-on mower”, and a further $5000 from the FRRR and Gardiner Foundation to extend the Friends of Gargarro Green Thumbs Nursery.
“We’ve been very fortunate in the past couple of years in attracting funds, and it all goes towards the growth of the gardens,” Mr McDonald said.
“We're truly grateful; it’s a significant amount of money, and it’s great that we have the community backing - it’s something we’re all very proud of,” he said.
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