• Recipients announced for the Environmental Sustainability Stream of the 2022 Charles Sturt Community University Partnerships (CUP) Grants program
• Revive Lake Cathie Inc received a $1,000 grant and Port Macquarie Community Garden Inc received $970 in funding
• Grants can be applied to projects that improve the environmental and social sustainability of regional communities within the Charles Sturt footprint

Charles Sturt University continues to provide funding to support community groups, organisations, and schools across the Port Macquarie region.

In the latest round of the Charles Sturt 2022 Community University Partnerships (CUP) Grants  Environmental Sustainability Stream two community groups have received almost $2,000 in total funding to deliver environmental projects.  

Revive Lake Cathie Inc (RLC) received a $1,000 grant and the Port Macquarie Community Garden Inc received $970 in funding.

CUP Grants can be put towards regional projects that support cultural, economic, sporting, environmental development, or higher education aspiration among youth in regional areas.

Charles Sturt Sustainability Manager Mr Edward Maher said the environmental sustainability stream of the program supports community initiatives that drive environmental priorities at the local level.    

“Charles Sturt is proud to support projects that drive sustainable practices in regional communities,” Mr Maher said.   

“The CUP grants program is another example of how the University continues to be a leader in higher education global sustainability.”

Treasurer of RLC, Ms Karen Puschmann, said the funding was critical to the organisation’s Water Watch testing activities.  

“The funding provided by Charles Sturt enables RLC to purchase the chemical substrates we use in our Water Watch testing. Without grants like these, it would be difficult to sustain our testing,” Ms Puschmann said.

“RLC volunteers complete the testing of approximately 19 sites in the Lake Iness-Lake Cathie estuarine system. Our testing results are made available to the public which gives everyone a clearer picture of what is happening in this system along with the long-term data we need to evaluate the next step in our long-term goals to save our beautiful lake.”

President of Port Macquarie Community Garden Inc Mr Graeme Evans said the funding would go a long way to maintaining a large community garden in Port Macquarie.

“The grant will go towards the purchase of two Easy Composters to process local restaurant food waste into sustainable material,” Mr Evans said.

“We are receiving increasing amounts of food waste from our local community, both household and commercial. We need to expand our composting systems to allow for the fast, effective and sustainable processing of this extra waste.”

Applications for the 2023 Charles Sturt CUP Grants program open at the beginning of next year.

Grants of up to $1,000 can be put towards equipment and material purchases, workshops, and catering for projects that fall within any of these categories:

• Arts and Culture
• Sports Development
• Education Development
• Health and Wellbeing
• Environmental Sustainability

Applications can be made via the 'Grants’ page on the Charles Sturt website.

For more information, please contact community@csu.edu.au

Charles Sturt continues to be a national and international leader in sustainability. The University ranked in the top five per cent globally for sustainable practices out of more than 1,400 universities in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2022.

ENDS