Wodonga Heart Football Club scores goals with Wodonga Council community grants program

The club was struggling with the impact of the global pandemic before it applied to Wodonga Council's community grants program.

The club gained $10,000 from Community Infrastructure and Equipment Grants towards four new goals; a project to which it also contributed $4000.

Wodonga Heart Football Club secretary Rose Martin said many people were surprised by the cost of soccer goals.

"If we didn't get the grant we wouldn't have been able to afford the goals," she said.

"COVID hit us hard and money was tight.

"We thought we would go for it and see how we went and to our surprise we got accepted."

Wodonga Council said the grants program aimed to recognise the contributions of community groups, clubs and organisations.

That was in order to make the city "a healthy, connected and thriving community where everyone belongs".

The council saw the funding allocations - across five different categories - as a way to bring about "a collaborative response to local needs" right across the Wodonga community.

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Mayor Kevin Poulton encouraged groups from throughout Wodonga to consider applying for the funding program.

"Our community grants are a great way for organisations to grow ideas, start new initiatives or improve infrastructure that the public can use," he said.

"The grants are all about empowering those groups to make a real difference in providing benefits to the community that help us all to become better connected.

"And so I encourage eligible groups to visit our website and see what they can do to make our city an even better place to live."

Ms Martin said club members were not the only ones to use the new goals at Willow Park.

"Schools play soccer, football clubs and other people in the region, kids from different schools and teams play on our fields," she said.

The grants program open twice a year; the first round was in February, with the second opening in July.

The second round of community grants closes on Friday, August 26.

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