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Grants and awards | November 15, 2019

Preserving the past – local history grants now available

Local history groups looking to preserve, record and share their town’s history are being encouraged to apply for the Public Record Office Victoria’s Local History Grants Program.

Applications are now open for grants of up to $15,000 to assist local community groups and organisations that collect and preserve the stories of our region.

The Nationals Member for Lowan, Emma Kealy said the grants aimed to support local historical groups planning or currently working on projects to secure their stories for generations to come.

“The Lowan electorate has a vibrant history with many important local stories to share and preserve,” Ms Kealy said.

Projects previously supported through the program include the digitisation and preservation of newspapers, cataloguing of objects and records, the development and production of exhibitions and the purchase of high standard storage and display cases.

Local recipients from last year’s round of grants include:

• The Murtoa Stick Shed Committee of Management who received $8,646 for an informative website and signage project;
• The Halls Gap and Grampians Historical Society who received $1,687 for online cataloguing; and
• The Hindmarsh, Horsham, West Wimmera and Yarriambiack Shire Councils who received $6,500 for a joint ‘Community Stories – Local Emergencies’ project to provide a digital platform to document photos and reflections of emergency events that have impacted on local lives.

Ms Kealy said the diversity of past successful projects demonstrated how important it is to preserve our local history for future generations to enjoy.

“It’s been fantastic to see a number of history groups and organisations from across our region successfully secure a local history grant to pursue their own local projects,” Ms Kealy said.

“I encourage all local historical societies, schools, sporting clubs and specialist interest groups to apply for this grant to help share their stories.”

The Local History Grants Program is now open to all not-for-profit community groups.

Applications close at midnight on 8 January 2020.

For further information or to apply visit: https://prov.vic.gov.au/community/grants-and-awards/local-history-grants-program.