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Carramar comes out to play
Carrramar Playgroup
Local children and parents attending the Carramar Playgroup’s Christmas party on December 2 got a surprise that almost trumped Santa’s impending deliveries!
Lotterywest’s Director of Grants and Community Development, Jacquie Thomson, together with local MLA Dianne Guise, had come to join the party with good news – the playgroup’s grant application for toys and equipment for the group had been approved!
“It was the talk of the party and everyone was buzzing”, said Carramar Playgroup President, Anna-Skye Kameron.
“Only the committee members were aware of the grant prior to the presentation as we wanted it to be a nice surprise at the party.”
A nice surprise it was – and welcome support for a community group that started with four children whose play equipment included empty formula cans, bottles filled with pasta and cardboard boxes.
It’s also testimony to how one person’s idea can have benefits for the wider community.
Anna-Skye Kameron started the playgroup after living in the area for three years:
“I had a little boy who was ten months at the time. There wasn’t a playgroup within walking distance.”
Anna-Skye, who lived close to the Carramar Community Centre, saw it being built, and was especially interested in the playgroup room.
“I rang the City of Wanneroo and I asked if a playgroup had been organised. I was told no, but would I like to start one? I thought – well someone has to, and it may as well be me!”
Anna-Skye got together with some friends and did a letter-box drop of in the local area to let people know about the new playgroup she was starting.
“We had to stop putting the flyer out after two days because we were booked out! The response was just overwhelming!” she said.
The group has now been going for six months and has 196 members with 60 on the waiting list for next year. All members volunteer to play an equal part in running the playgroup, from organising creative play, to preparing snacks. There’s now 12 people on the playgroup committee who bring with them a range of skills as diverse as finance and education to the organisation.
This growth saw a necessity to resource the group with more toys and equipment. Anna-Skye had read about Lotterywest grants through a Playgroup WA newsletter and saw an opportunity.
“I found the process really easy. I looked up the Lotterywest Grants website and downloaded the application form. Access to the internet meant I could complete the form in my own time when my little one was in bed.”
The group had their Annual General Meeting recently where they wrote up a ‘wish list’ of toys and equipment to purchase with the Lotterywest grant.
A sand and water play unit, good quality trikes, scooters, as well as dress-ups and “lots of other things!” were on the list.
The group were planning to make the most of the post-Christmas sales to make sure their grant money crossed as many items off the ‘wish list’ as possible!
Editor’s Note!
If your organisation is a new ‘Children and Families’ grant applicant, or a ‘regular customer’ who hasn’t yet heard the news – Lotterywest has recently revised its strategy for ‘Children and Families’ grants to support various children’s organisations such as playgroups, toy libraries and crèches as well as innovative child development projects.
The new approach also means grants are administered annually or on an as needed basis, rather than through a four year cycle. The “one size fits all approach” has also been changed with limits for children’s grants removed to provide scope for organisations to seek grant amounts in keeping with their service needs.