Drought has had an enormous impact across NSW and particularly in regional areas. The Mental Health Sports Fund provides NSW based sporting bodies with funding for sport led mental health, social and emotional wellbeing initiatives in regional NSW.
The NSW Government has made $1.2 million available under this fund for programs in regional areas. This program is a partnership between the NSW Ministry of Health and the NSW Office of Sport.
The objectives of the Grant program are to:
- Conduct a community driven and well supported mental health initiative
- Deliver mental health and wellbeing benefits to individuals in regional communities
- Establish connections between community sporting clubs and mental health organisations for ongoing referral and support pathways
- Promote resilience in the sporting sector or among local sporting clubs.
There is a total of $1.2 million available for suitable projects.
Grants of $10,000-$75,000 are available depending on the size and scale of the program to be funded.
Special consideration can be made for larger applications (up to a maximum of $100,000), dependant on available funding and the nature of the program.
To be eligible for this grant program, applicants must:
- Be a NSW based sporting body, including State Sporting Organisations (SSOs) or State Sporting Organisations for people with a Disability (SSODs), which operates across NSW
- Partner with an established mental health service provider or charity to develop and deliver a place based mental health program or scale up an existing place based mental health program in a regional area of NSW
- Identify how the proposed initiative will educate the community about mental health and increase access to appropriate mental health and suicide prevention services
- Obtain a letter of support from a relevant mental health service provider or charity outlining the program partnership
- The mental health service provider or charity must currently be operating in NSW and be funded by either a local government organisation in NSW, NSW Health, the NSW Mental Health Commission or the Commonwealth Department of Health
- Be an incorporated, not for profit organisation and have at least $5 million public liability insurance.
Projects should give consideration to activities that support the social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the community.
NSW based sporting bodies can apply for funding to run a sport-linked mental health program in a regional area in partnership with a mental health service provider or charity.
Applications to support a new program or scale up an existing program are welcome.
Applications should demonstrate a focus on improving mental health or awareness of mental health and wellbeing in regional communities.
Applicants can use the grant funding for the following activities:
- Salaries or on-costs which can be directly attributed to the provision of a service (i.e. engaging a consultant to deliver training)
- Employee training for paid and unpaid staff that is relevant and appropriate
- Operating and administration expenses directly related to the delivery of services, such as:
- materials and equipment directly relating to service delivery
- marketing of services
- costs of service evaluation
- insurance
- travel/accommodation costs.
The following will not be funded:
- Staff wages and administration costs that cannot be directly attributed to the provision of a service
- Unreasonable expenditure, appearance fees, prize money and trophies or presentation functions
- Events that are organised for the primary purpose of fundraising
- Purchase of land, rental of premises or associated occupancy payments
- General running costs including capital equipment or office equipment
- Insurance (public liability, general liability, etc.)
- Infrastructure projects (e.g. construction/upgrade, maintenance, and repairs)
- Projects that have attracted or will attract private or philanthropic funding.