Photo caption: Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton recently caught up with members of the Coolah Men’s Shed to announce their successful Powering Communities Program grant, which they will use to install a solar system.
Coolah Men’s Shed will be able to save on its power bills thanks to a $5,571 grant provided through the Federal Government’s Powering Communities Program.
Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton recently visited the Coolah Men’s Shed to announce the grant, which will be used to install a 6.3KW grid connected solar system on the roof of the shed.
“Energy bills are often one of the biggest overheads for not-for-profit organisations,” Mr Coulton said.
“I’m thrilled to be able to support Coolah Men’s Shed to help reduce its power bills and ease the financial pressure they face as they build up their group, having only just moved into the shed last year.
“It’s groups like these that are the heart of communities around my electorate, and this assistance will allow them to continue to grow, invest and support local jobs.”
Coolah Men’s Shed secretary Ann Taylor said the men were thrilled to receive this grant.
“The goal of this project is to self-sustain our energy use through solar power in the Men’s Shed,” Ms Taylor said.
“Much of the activities we do rely on power tools and this project will help us reduce our carbon footprint and save costs.”
Coolah Men’s Shed was one of 10 community groups in the Parkes electorate to receive funding under the $10.2 million Powering Communities Program, which provided each electorate with a total of $67,700 to fund up to 12 small projects.