Free Events and Training for Community Groups in Ballarat
The Community Governance Project funded by the City of Ballarat is working to provide support to community groups in the City of Ballarat, delivered across the four Neighbourhood Houses in Ballarat through a Strategic Partnership.
2025 Workshops
Check out our Community Group Governance Past Workshops.
TERM 2, 2025 - REGISTER NOW
Workshop #4 - Ballarat Community Directory and MySay
REGISTER NOW: Session 1 - Thursday 15 May 10.00am – 11.00am Training Room #101, Barkly Square, 25-39 Barkly Street, Ballarat East
REGISTER NOW: Session 2 - Monday 19 May 6.30pm – 7.30pm BENH Community Room #102, Barkly Square, 25-39 Barkly Street, Ballarat East
Do you want to improve your community groups online presence and share information about your group to more people?
Do you want council officers to hear the views of your community group in relation to projects being undertaken by City of Ballarat?
If the answer to either of these questions is yes, then please come along to this interactive session with Council officers who will take us through Ballarat Community Directory and MySay. You will be able to get your group on the directory in the workshop.
Workshop #5 - Law Week – Legal Responsibilities for Community Groups
REGISTER NOW: Tuesday 20 May 10.00 – 12.00 Wendouree Neighbourhood Centre, 12 Holly Grove, Wendouree
There are many legal issues that community groups are currently grappling with.
During Law Week come along to this workshop presented by Ballarat and Grampians Community Legal Service and learn how your community group can deal with some common legal issues.
Workshop #6 – Conflict Resolution
REGISTER NOW: Session 1 - Friday 30 May, 2.00 - 5.00 pm, Training Room #101, Barkly Square, 25-39 Barkly Street, Ballarat East
REGISTER NOW: Session 2 - Saturday 31 May, 10.00 am - 1.00 pm, Ballarat East Neighbourhood House Community Room, Room #103, Barkly Square, 25-39 Barkly Street, Ballarat East
Conflict can seem like it brings only roadblocks, but the challenges of conflict can also bring insight, learning and growth if we approach it in the right way.
How do we work through the issues that may emerge to work together in community with people who hold different views, needs and communication practices? How do we address tensions before they get too bad? Or if it went bad, how do we start cleaning up the mess?
In this workshop, we will unpack what conflict is and when it arises and provide some concrete tools and practice skills that come in handy when dealing with conflict.
Workshop #7 - Volunteers – Inducting, managing and retaining
REGISTER NOW: Session 1 - Thursday 5 June 10.00am – 11.30am Training room #101, Barkly Square, 25-39 Barkly Street, Ballarat East
REGISTER NOW: Session 2 - Wednesday 18 June 6.00pm – 7.30pm Online via Zoom/Face to Face TBC
This workshop will explore the challenges of inducting, managing and retaining volunteers for your community group. Sue Jakob has worked in many roles managing volunteers for over 15 years, at the same time she has been a volunteer and been part of committees running volunteer community groups across Ballarat. Come along and hear some practical ways to engage and energise your volunteers so that they remain active within your group.
Feedback from previous participants:
“Engaging and informative.”
“Good ideas in supporting volunteers.”
“Provided motivation to improve our practices.”
Workshop #8 - Marketing and promotion for community groups
REGISTER NOW: Session 1 - Wednesday 11 June 10.00am – 11.30am Training room 101, Barkly Square, 25-39 Barkly Street, Ballarat East
REGISTER NOW: Session 2 - Thursday 12 June 6.00pm – 7.30pm, Online via Zoom
Do you struggle with getting your story out as a not-for-profit or community group? Find it hard to pitch to your target audience for donations, volunteer recruitment, stakeholder engagement, and general PR?
As a publicist with over 30 years’ experience, Lou has also been running a successful local not-for-profit for over 10 years, Food Is Free Inc. and is an expert in multiple forms of promotion from traditional PR to online & digital comms plus, strategy.
In this Marketing and promotion workshop Lou will simplify how to get your good news stories out, how to attract the differing sectors of your audience to hear your successes and impact, and how to make your organisation stand out from the crowd.
Feedback from previous participants:
“Love, love, loved it. Best 1 ½ hr spent ever.”
“Very useful content. Lots of food for thought. Thank you.”
Please contact us for more information.
Past Workshops
Check out the previous Community Group Governance Workshops that we have run since 2023.
Supporting Ballarat's Community Groups
Commencing June 2022, through a four-year strategic partnership grant with the City of Ballarat, the four Neighbourhood Houses in Ballarat is building capacity for local groups through training workshops and resources.
The project involves delivery of training on governance, grant writing, financial management, running effective meetings, managing volunteers and applying for incorporation.
Kay Miller has been appointed two days a week as the Community Governance Officer and would like to talk to local groups and organisations to see what support is required.
The project is focusing on smaller groups across the City of Ballarat who may not have the resources (time or money) to seek the advice they need. A governance health check assessment tool has been developed which can be used to see how your group is functioning particularly in relation to governance. A list of online resources is also available for community groups.
So, if your group of organisation has no more than one paid staff member or an annual operating income under $150,000, or thereabouts (excluding one-off project grants), and you have some questions about how you are operating or would like some training in a particular area please contact Kay by email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by phone 0460 699 669.
Online Training
Not-for-Profit Law
Not-for-profit (NFP) Law is a specialist legal service for community organisations. NFP Law is a program of Justice Connect a social justice organisation and community legal service and is itself a not-for-profit community organisation and registered charity. They provide free or low cost, high quality practical legal help for not-for-profit community organisations and advocate for improved standards and legal frameworks.
See their free and low-cost live and on demand webinars: https://www.nfplaw.org.au/training/webinars
They have a range of great resources available to support not-for-profit groups: https://www.nfplaw.org.au/
Neighbourhood Houses Working Together
On Wednesday 27 October 2021 at the City of Ballarat's Council Meeting a four-year Strategic Partnership proposal from the four Neighbourhood Houses in Ballarat was approved.
This project sees the four Ballarat Houses working closely together to support community groups across our city.
Building Governance Capacity for Ballarat's Community Groups
ALIGNMENT WITH COUNCIL VISION, COUNCIL PLAN, STRATEGIES AND POLICIES
- The purpose of the Strategic Partnerships Program is to provide funding to organisations or businesses to deliver initiatives that meet Council’s strategic objectives outlined in the Council Plan, Health and Wellbeing Plan and other relevant plans and strategies that have been endorsed by Council.
- The delivery of the Strategic Partnerships Program is explicitly included in the annual Council Plan Action Plan under:
a. Goal 2: A healthy, connected and inclusive community
b. Objective 2.1: Provide a socially equitable response to municipal growth and change
c. Strategy: Administer the Community Impact Grant and Strategic Partnership Grant programs
COMMUNITY IMPACT
- Funded Strategic Partnerships must deliver on Council objectives that are broadly based around the following goals, all of which are designed to create positive community outcomes:
a. An environmentally sustainable future
b. A healthy, connected and inclusive community
c. A city that fosters sustainable growth
d. A city that conserves and enhances our natural and built assets
e. A strong and innovative economy and city - The proposals recommended for funding have community impact in creating strong community organisations and networks, aiding the local economy to recover from COVID and promoting active living and visitation to the city.
