Blackheath’s Cyber Shed and the community garden have both benefited from grants from the federal government.
Macquarie MP Susan Templeman was in town in mid-December, handing out her own version of Christmas cheer.
The Stronger Communities program allocated $150,000 of federal funding to the Macquarie electorate. Over 100 eligible community groups submitted applications for the consideration of a local, independent panel, chaired by Ms Templeman. Twenty groups were successful.
The Cyber_Shed program at Blackheath Area Neighbourhood Centre received $10,000 to refurbish and upgrade the facility.
Cyber_Shed co-ordinator and volunteer tutor, Simon Hare, said the money will be put to good use for “unsexy but necessary maintenance and rewiring ... and also to replace hand-me-down desks with appropriate ergonomic furniture”.
He said the much-needed additions would make the workspace more flexible and able to handle more clients “which in the new year will include some significantly littler clients – as we expand our reach to extracurricular kids coding classes”.
Blackheath Community Garden, overseen by Lis Bastian and The Big Fix, was awarded $5000 to provide a covered enclosure for the garden.
Ms Templeman said the two groups provided important services to the Blackheath community “and I’m thrilled to support them”.
Ms Templeman also donated $500 each to the Blackheath Men’s Shed and the Valley Heights Locomotive Depot Heritage Museum as part of her Christmas donations.
“Instead of sending out Christmas cards to Blue Mountains residents and community groups, I’ve decided to make a donation to four deserving groups in my electorate of Macquarie – two of which are in the Blue Mountains,” Ms Templeman said.