History

The Macpherson Smith Community Alliance

The Macpherson Smith Community Alliance was originally launched on 12 May 2004 as a joint initiative between the Victorian State Government and the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust. The Alliance established a $1 million fund in the financial year 2004 on the basis of a matched grant of $500,000 each from the Trust and from Regional Development Victoria.

2004-2006

The original MSCA supported projects identified by the Community Capacity Building Initiative (CCBI), a joint initiative launched in May 2000 between Regional Development Victoria and the Department of Victorian Communities and supported by the Victorian Farmers Federation.

Sixty different communities originally tendered to take part in this initiative and eleven groups were ultimately selected, involving more than 55 small towns in regional Victoria. The CCBI aimed to build people capacity in local key people and to empower them to build relationships between existing organisations and people in the community, develop the community, enhance the local economy, and involve outside organisations where there were skill gaps.

The CCBI program was founded on the important understanding that local people play a critical role in building the capacity of their communities, through their motivation, vision, energy and commitment. The work of the CCBI project groups enabled the identification and development of a wide range of community projects. The aim of the $1 million fund was to assist the participating rural Victorian communities to bring these projects to fruition.

In October 2004, the first grants round was held and grants of $478,481 were made. The second and final grants round was held in November 2005 and grants of $554,551 were made, bringing the total grants distributed for this project to $1,033,032 as a result of interest earned over the project lifespan. Details of the grants can be found in the 2005 and 2006 Annual Reports of the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust.

2007-2010

In 2007, the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust and the Victorian State Government agreed to a new $2 million partnership based on $1 million matched grants each from the Trust and the Department of Planning and Community Development.

The Macpherson Smith Community Alliance is an essential element of the Victorian Government’s $10 million four-year Community Building Initiative (CBI) program.

The MSCA was created to assist small rural and regional communities participating in the CBI. The grants will provide assistance towards funding CBI project outcomes that have been identified by the rural communities through their community planning process.

Communities participating in CBI have held Community Opportunity Workshops to identify and develop a shared vision for the future of the community. Out of these discussions a number of prioritised projects and activities have been identified to bring their goals to fruition.

This $2 million partnership was developed to provide not only seed funding for projects, but also to be a catalyst for building new partnerships within and across communities, organisations and government.

Early in 2009, the Victorian Council of Social Service (VCOSS) joined the partnership. VCOSS brings to the partnership a commitment to enhancing local community building, access to training and development opportunities for local community CBIs – including the VCOSS Clearing House