The City of Melbourne’s Social Enterprise City Impact Grant program will provide $200,000 in funding to 20 initiatives that develop creative solutions for local issues.
City of Melbourne Lord Mayor, Sally Capp, said, “Social enterprises contribute $5.2 billion to Victoria’s economy each year, drawing on the diversity, knowledge and innovative thinking of our wonderful community.
“This funding will provide 20 social enterprises with a valuable boost, so they can focus on developing their ideas and delivering important work to support our city’s vibrant future.”
City Activation Portfolio Lead, Councillor Roshena Campbell, said the program isn’t just about funding.
“We’re also supporting social enterprises with a range of capacity-building development opportunities, including mentoring and access to temporary space for pop-ups,” Cr Campbell said.
“This will encourage entrepreneurs to build their skills, grow their networks, improve their products and contribute to our city’s innovative business community.”
Environment Portfolio Lead, Councillor Rohan Leppert, said this funding round included an increased focus on initiatives that promote a circular economy.
“We’ve allocated $100,000 for social enterprises working on innovative solutions to recycle and reuse resources to minimise waste,” Cr Leppert said.
“Supported projects will provide compost education, offer zero-waste coffee machine rental and will even recycle nappies into cat litter.”
Grant recipients include:
- STEM Sisters, to open a store allowing people to donate pre-loved business clothing for migrant women
- Rollup Recycling, to convert used carpet into new products
- DivTal, to create an online jobs board for Black, Indigenous and people of colour, with job candidates accessible to Australian organisations
- Linkmate, to expand a peer-to-peer social network for young people seeking support and connection due to loneliness
Precious Plastic Melbourne received funding for a project to turn film canister waste into recycled sunglasses.
Precious Plastic Melbourne founder, Kayla Mossuto, said, “For some time now, we’ve been determined to find an innovative solution to help close the loop on plastic film canister waste — this grant will enable us to fast-track this exciting project.”
“We’re committed to creating circular economies for local plastic waste streams, through responsible, sustainable manufacturing and the development of functional products.”
For a full list of grant recipients under the Social Enterprise City Impact Grant program, visit the City of Melbourne’s website.
