Stone & Wood’s inGrained Foundation are thrilled to announce six local not-for-profits have been awarded a Northern Rivers Large Grant, with a total of $115,180 being divided between the organisations.

After receiving a strong pool of outstanding applications from many people doing great work in our community, the inGrained Grants Committee and Board are pleased to announce the successful recipients for the 2021 inGrained Northern Rivers Large Grants Program are:

• Agape Outreach:Agape Outreach Inc is a street-level organisation actively working to alleviate poverty and homelessness in the Tweed Heads area and beyond. Since COVID, they have seen a 468% increase in client numbers needing support. Agape will be putting their grant towards ongoing support and outreach services for people in need.
• Bangalow Koalas:Steadily building the koala, wildlife and reforestation corridor around Bangalow, Bangalow Koalas are looking to plant over 4000 trees in the area by August 2024 regenerating land and protecting the local wildlife for years to come. Their grant sees a key section of the wildlife corridor progressing within the next 12 months.
• Byron Community Centre–The Byron Community Centre are at the forefront of the region’s homelessness crisis. Currently renovating the Fletcher Street Cottage to reopen late this year, BCC will be using their grant to help provide the homeless and disadvantaged community with shelter and support in extreme weather events.
• Community Owned Renewable Energy Mullumbimby (COREM):COREM installs solar systems on community organisations for free, which is then paid back by the savings made on the electricity bills. The solar systems are provided interest-free and when paid back, the funding is re-purposed for the next installation. COREM’s grant is going towards a model of delivery that allows them to sustain this great work.
• Green Heroes:Recently rescuing three loggerhead turtle nests from the Fingal and Pottsville areas, Green Heroes built a makeshift incubator and successfully hatched and released over 150 baby turtles with a 96% hatch rate. Their inGrained funding will help them to build a proper and permanent incubator to continue to revive these endangered sea creatures for many turtle hatchings in the years ahead.
• Human Nature Adventure Therapy:Through their Activ8 Outdoor Youth Mentoring program, Human Nature Adventure Therapy offer immersive outdoor counselling services for teens in need in our community. Their inGrained grant will support the delivery of many more one-on-one outdoor counselling sessions building mental health and resilience.

James Perrin from the inGrained Foundation said of this year’s Program, “First, a bigthank you to all of our Northern Rivers grant applicants. We were stunned by the incredible work that our community organisations are doing tohelp others and care for this beautiful place we call home.

And, of course, a huge congratulations to our successful recipients. We feel confident that these organisations will address the needs of our environment and community as well as support some of the very pressing and immediate concerns in our region such as housing and homelessness.”

inGrained’s work in the community continues throughout the year with the help of Byron locals and visitors to our Byron Brewery. For every beer sold over the bar, $1 goes towards supporting additional local grass roots charities.

Founded as a separate not-for-profit by Stone & Wood in 2018, the inGrained Foundation works to attract, generate and direct donations to grassroots charities.