New playgrounds at local schools, new equipment for a local wheelchair basketball club and a program to help women enter the workforce are among the community initiatives that have been made possible by the NSW Ports Community Grants Program over the past five years.
And now, it’s that time of year again when local community groups, not for profit organisations, sports clubs and schools are invited to submit their grant applications to help fund projects or programs that benefit members of their local communities.
The program offers one-off grants of up to $25,000, for local initiatives, projects and services operating within eligible postcodes in the vicinity of NSW Ports’s sites at Port Botany, Port Kembla and the Enfield and Cooks River Intermodal Terminals.
NSW Ports CEO Marika Calfas said the focus of the Community Grants Program was to help build stronger local communities.
“Our local communities are integral to what we do, and we are really proud to have been able to support so many great projects and programs through our Community Grants Program over the past five years,” she said.
“We’re really looking forward to receiving this year’s applications, and I encourage anyone involved in a school or sports club or local community group who has a project or program they need funding for to submit an application.”
The program supports projects that deliver positive outcomes across the areas of education, health and wellbeing, economic development, the environment, arts and culture, social welfare and emergency services.
Illawarra Wheelchair Basketball’s Brian Gardner, who made a successful application for a grant last year, said the club used the money to purchase a new wheelchair to add to its fleet. “Having community partner grants like the program run by NSW Ports is a wonderful initiative that we are sincerely grateful for,” Mr Gardner said.
“We rely wholly and solely on grants, donations and so forth. We’re a not-for-profit, and trying to provide chairs for every shape and size person is a very expensive thing to do.”
Through its international trade gateways, NSW Ports’ operations contribute $13.6 billion annually to the State’s economy and support around 65,000 jobs through the supply chain – many of them in the local community.
To apply for the NSW Ports 2025 Community Grants Program, or for more information, visit: www.nswports.com.au/grants. Applications close at 5pm on Sunday 20 April 2025.
