By Mikayla van Loon
Yarra Ranges Council has agreed to a six month extension in funding for Japara’s Kilsyth Community Hub, a temporary lifeline until a more sustainable financial plan is in place.
The current partnership funding arrangement of $70,000 from the council is due to expire in June this year, leaving the Hub in limbo.
An extension of $35,000 provides Japara with surety until the end of December that operations can continue until a formal and independent review is completed in coming months.
Japara’s board chair Mark Doubleday said given the impact of the pandemic on participation numbers there needs to be a new model of funding.
“We want a sustainable funding plan that looks at how a hub can be sustainable after the pandemic and realising that everything that worked before the pandemic is not relevant today,” he said.
“Our usage of the facility has grown since the pandemic lockdowns ceased at the end of 2021…we have had a growth in numbers of people coming in to do programs and hire the venue but nowhere near to the same extent that we had before 2020.”
Throughout 2020 and 2021, Mr Doubleday said Japara saw a venue hire income loss of 70 per cent which still hasn’t returned to pre pandemic figures.
“People have learned how to do things online. Workplaces and organisations and groups are still a bit shy about large events and activities and some groups have found other venues or other ways of doing things,” he said.
“So there is a great change that’s happening in the way the community works.”
Despite having made necessary cutbacks to staff hours and increasing voluntary duties, Mr Doubleday said it hasn’t been enough to ensure the prosperity of the Hub long term.
“We’re a voluntary board which pays at NGO rates. We’ve got great, passionate, committed people and I don’t believe in salary robbing them, but they do give a lot because they believe in what they do and I love them for it. We’re like a family,” he said.
As a not for profit organisation, managing the Kilsyth Community Hub on behalf of the council, Mr Doubleday said it is a large facility catering to social group activities, with seven meeting rooms and a hall.
Japara also runs the Neighbourhood House programs, which makes up about 30 per cent of the operations and receives equal funding, as do other neighbourhood houses, from the council.
A growing area that has bounced back significantly is the occasional care child care centre, a partnership Japara has with the council as well.
“At the start of 2022, we had four children enrolled. Now we’ve got 60 families. People want their children to socialise again and they want to go to work and childcare is a key economic recovery for the Commonwealth Government,” Mr Doubleday said.
“It’s a great partnership story between the council and Japara because the hub does include a childcare centre. Council provides that building to us for free, which means families get affordable childcare.”
As a council owned facility, Mr Doubleday said it is very much in the council’s hands to either increase funding or come up with a future financial plan, with government grants only available for short term projects.
“This is very much a council decision about whether they want this Hub to be successful for this part of their municipality, and to fund us as the manager on their behalf to run it and to run it well.”
At the 26 April council meeting, the councillors voted unanimously to approve the funding extension, led by Cr Len Cox and supported by Cr Tim Heenan.
“They’ve been doing a great job, it’s been managed by them since it was built,” Cr Cox said.
“It was going financially well until the virus came along and, like a lot of things, it has suffered badly from the results of the virus and the lack of groups using it from then on.”
Grateful for the support, Mr Doubleday thanked the council for its commitment to finding a solution through the review process and looked forward to the outcomes presented in the report when released.
“We appreciate the extension of funding. We’re looking to finalise a long term sustainable funding plan with the council that means this community hub, as one of their council community hubs can be available with confidence, can keep growing and be able to be managed properly given everything’s changed from the way it was before the pandemic.”
