We always look forward to the start of a new year. The Grants Hub is a hive of activity as new grant rounds are announced and people return after the Christmas break, reinvigorated and ready to find their next funding opportunity.
It’s also the time of year when nominations for Westfield Local Heroes open. Every year Westfield shines the spotlight on the many amazing individuals and organisations who are making a positive impact in their local community or environment. Across Australia and New Zealand, Westfield will provide $1.26M in Westfield Local Hero grants in 2023.
To kick off 2023 nominations we sat down for a chat with Becky Edney, Community Engagement Manager at Scentre Group. Becky outlined some of the ways the program has been able to help, who can nominate/be nominated, and shares what she’s most excited about for this year’s program.
Nominating a Westfield Local Hero is one small act that can have a big impact. Nominating only takes a few minutes, so if you know someone who deserves to be recognised and supported nominate them at: www.westfield.com.au/local-heroes
In one sentence, tell us what you want to see from the Local Heroes program this year.
We all know those selfless, passionate people in our communities who go above and beyond to make a positive impact to their local community or environment… and we want to know who they are.
Who can nominate & who can be nominated?
Anyone can nominate. You could nominate a colleague, a volunteer or just someone you know or who you have heard of from your local area who is making a difference. We consider our successful Westfield Local Heroes to be those positive role models who lead by example and who are trusted and respected by members of their community. Eligibility is really simple – the nominee must have a positive impact on the local community or environment around a Westfield centre and be affiliated with a registered group or organisation.
Unlike a lot of grants programs, we try to ensure our program is open to as many different types of groups and organisations as possible. For example, they can be registered community groups, sporting clubs, not-for-profits, schools, emergency services, authorities, profit for purpose, social enterprise or a business. Over the past 5 years of the program, our heroes have been community volunteers and leaders, welfare service providers, first responders, essential workers, health and medical experts, educators, environmentalists, innovators, businesspeople and social entrepreneurs & intrapreneurs.
What's the incentive?
Successful heroes are awarded a $20,000 grant for the organisation or group they represent, the remaining two finalists receive $5,000 to continue their work. In addition to the grant payments, the finalists and their work are showcased to more than 30,000 people via our digital channels, as well as reaching many more customers in our centres through our digital screen networks, we also look for additional ways that we can work with the finalist organisations to help them grow their impact through our networks.
A notable example of this is Lisa Saunders, co-founder of Arnie's Recon. They received a Westfield Local Heroes grant and says that through the Westfield Local Heroes program they have been able to grow their community networks and as a result, people have become more interested in recycling, and local collections have been set up. The grant has allowed Arnie's Recon to expand its free service to the community, while the ongoing partnership with Westfield has seen them run collection drives in a number of Westfield Centres, contributing to the reduction of 14.45 tonnes of waste to landfill.
What are you looking forward to most with the 2023 program?
It is always amazing to see the quality of nominations we receive and the amazing work that is taking place in our communities each year. We are most looking forward to discovering the stories of the unsung heroes who work tirelessly to make a difference. This year, we are really keen to see more nominations from cultural volunteers and leaders, and environmental innovators.
You receive many nominations, what would you say to someone sitting on the fence feeling a little hesitant to nominate someone?
We receive over 1,000 nominations a year across Australia and New Zealand, each nomination is unique, and we take care to ensure we assess all nominations against a set criteria. Nominating only takes a few minutes but that one act, could make a big impact to an organisation.
Helen Gooden, Westfield Sydney Local Hero said “This was a ‘blue sky’ dream to reach a wider audience of mine, to give a stronger voice to our amazing volunteers to share their stories to advocate for awareness and improved outcomes in ovarian cancer. I never envisaged what we have achieved, and it would not have ever been possible without your support.”
What happens once a nomination is made and how are the 3 finalists for each centre selected?
Once a nomination is received, the individual who has been nominated will receive a notification and will be asked to complete a few questions, including the contact details for the organisation contact, who will be sent a separate form to complete. All forms must be completed for the nomination to be eligible.
Between May and August, we go through online assessment to shortlist nominations. Shortlisted nominations are then taken to a selection panel who assess against a set criteria to create a shortlist of three finalists per Westfield Centre.
The finalists will go out to the public vote in August, and the successful Westfield Local Hero with the highest number of community votes for each Westfield centre will be announced and awarded a $20,000 grant for the organisation they represent.
We're aware you use a Theory of Change methodology for evaluating impact. Some people understand Theory of Change really well, yet for others it's a completely new concept and may scare them off! In simple words, can you tell people what impact you would love to see through the Local Heroes program this year and beyond?
Driving positive impact! Westfield Local Heroes is our primary community program, and our teams are committed to building meaningful connections.
We want to raise the profile of the work delivered by our local heroes and finalists so we can help them grow their stakeholder networks, raise awareness of community needs and opportunities, and help connect them with more people who might need their services.
We continue to work with many of our heroes and finalists, leveraging our platforms, people and networks to find more ways to help them further connect with the local community and help facilitate new solutions.