Northern Territory community groups spreading the health and wellbeing message were today awarded funding through the Medibank Community Fund (MCF) Community Grants program.
Two local initiatives - Life Eduction NT and Red Hot Arts Central Australia were awarded grants totalling $43,000 to support their preventative health projects.
At the Northern Territory launch of the grants, at Alice Springs Town Council, today recipients joined local community members and Medibank staff.
The MCF Community Grants program supports local grassroots initiatives throughout Australia and New Zealand that encourage healthy eating, physical activity or community connectedness.
Medibank Community Fund Manager Nicole Borg said there was overwhelming demand for grants this year, with more than 900 applications from across Australia and New Zealand.
"A total of $600,000 has been provided to 42 community projects that included healthy eating and fitness programs for Indigenous and disadvantaged children, a school healthy gardening cooperative, exercise programs for disadvantaged communities and lifestyle education programs for young people," Ms Borg said.
"These great initiatives promote Medibank's purpose of 'For Better Health' and were selected by our employees who reviewed the applications and selected the projects that best met the criteria."
Northern Territory grant recipients are:
Life Education NT
A $35,000 MCF grant will allow Life Education NT to continue their positive influence on 6,800 students each year and establish a permanent presence in Central Australia, providing health and drug education programs to schools within the region. These programs will support teachers and families within the community by providing vital educational tools to reinforce the healthy messages throughout the year, linking with current curriculum.
2000 primary, middle and senior school students will have access to the program, with classes to be held in the Life Education Mobile Learning Centre in remote areas. In addition community health forums will be held within the schools for the broader community, to spread the benefits of maintaining healthy lifestyle choices to a wider audience.
Life Education NT's You Tube clip can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1ELY_mPxgs
Red Hot Arts Central Australia
$8,000
Funding has been provided to Red Hot Arts Central Australia to deliver a program for 4 to 12 year old children and their families, to educate them about food security, healthy eating habits and encourage the planting of food in their own gardens. The program will involve a range of activities including sensory performance, a family obstacle course, and writing session. Participants will be given the opportunity to work with artists to create a float for the Alice Desert Festival parade, which will provide positive messages about health and wellbeing.
Red Hot Arts' You Tube clip can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEKxlxVvVFo&feature=youtu.be