Local Support Package boosts relief funding to support locals in need
Published on 03 September 2025
Frankston City Council has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting local relief organisations and agencies, announcing more than $425,000 in funding to help ease the ongoing cost-of-living pressures faced by many residents.
At a special event last month, Mayor Cr Kris Bolam JP and Councillors were joined by Jodie Belyea MP, Paul Edbrooke MP, Frankston Citizen of the Year Wayne Holdsworth, Young Citizen of the Year David McFarlane, Aunty Deb Mellet and Frankston Charitable Fund Chair Abby Foster to acknowledge and celebrate the organisations receiving support through Council’s Local Support Package.
In the first of two funding packages, $210,000 will be distributed to a wide range of community relief and support agencies, providing essential services such as:
- emergency food relief
- clothing, nappies, and toiletries for families in crisis
- housing crises support and rent assistance
- youth mentoring programs
- mental health and wellbeing initiatives
- targeted services for veterans and seniors.
Mayor Cr Kris Bolam JP said:
“These organisations are the heart of our community’s response in times of crisis, and this funding strengthens their vital work. This package is about ensuring that no one is left behind and that our community has the resilience to get through these cost-of-living pressures together.”
Jodie Belyea MP, who helped present the funding, praised the dedication of local volunteers.
“In a time when volunteer numbers are dropping nationally, locally we are bucking that trend and seeing volunteering numbers increase in our area. Thanks to people like you.”
Recipient organisations welcomed the Local Support Package, emphasising the vital role this support plays in meeting community needs and strengthening Frankston City’s resilience.
Council has committed a further $245,000 in larger-scale support to cornerstone organisations including Community Support Frankston, Menzies Care for Kids, Peninsula Community Legal Centre, Frankston Neighbourhood Watch, Victoria Police Bue Ribbon Foundation, and the Frankston Charitable Fund.
This funding will support a range of initiatives designed to strengthen community wellbeing and improve access to vital services. These include:
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School-based Paediatric Clinics (SBPCs): Developing a sustainable model to ensure children who may otherwise miss out can access critical health care.
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Community Meals Program: Partnering with a local restaurant to provide free, hot and nutritious sit-down meals in a safe and welcoming environment.
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School Lawyer Program: Delivering legal support in local secondary schools to help students overcome barriers to advice and increase their understanding of rights and responsibilities.
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Tenancy Legal Service: Expanding free legal assistance for renters, rooming house residents and caravan park tenants facing housing insecurity.
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Fund-raising support for medical equipment: directly supporting programs raising money for much needed hospital treatment technologies
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Crime prevention: boosting local crime and safety awareness and vigilance initiatives
These initiatives form part of Council’s 2025–26 Stronger Together Annual Budget, which delivers more than $1.7 million in total relief measures to help families, individuals and businesses navigate ongoing economic challenges.
A fact sheet listing all recipient organisations is included with this release.
For more information, visit: Frankston Council – Local Support Package
Local relief and support agency funding recipients 2025-26
Relief Agencies
- Dress for Success Victoria empowers women to achieve economic independence by providing professional clothing, career support, and confidence-building programs.
This funding will be used to ensure the premises are welcoming, inclusive and accessible and help women thrive in work and life.
- Frankston Brekky Club has supported the local community for over 23 years, providing a safe, inclusive, and welcoming space for people experiencing loneliness, isolation, and disadvantage. This funding will go towards the breakfast program that serves a hot nutritious breakfast for up to 50 people every weekday.
- Frankston RSL: Veterans and Families Support Services is dedicated to supporting veterans and their families by providing welfare and assistance to those who are sick, disabled, or in need. They go beyond advocacy with vital services such as pension support and home visits, fostering dignity, honouring the memory of those who served and encouraging community spirit and social connection. This funding will be used to assist veterans with the high cost of living.
- Frankston Social Enterprise and Innovation Hub supports the social enterprise sector and creates innovative solutions to local challenges like unemployment, isolation, discrimination, and food insecurity. This funding will be used to run six sessions that further the work done as part of the Building Capability and Capacity report.
These sessions will bring local emergency relief providers together to create a best practice guide for dignified and unified food relief, reduce stigma, share resources, and spark new ways of working collectively.
- Frankston Toy Library has proudly served the Frankston community since 1977, providing families and local groups access to thousands of quality toys, games, books, and special-needs resources for a minimal fee. This funding will help over 300 people by covering the cost of membership for local families who are experiencing financial distress.
- Frankston Winter Shelter provides crisis accommodation and compassionate care for up to 12 people each night over 13 weeks of winter. More than just a safe place to sleep, it offers guests warm meals, showers, transport, essential supplies, and a supportive community—all in partnership with local agencies to help connect residents to longer-term support. This funding will assist 190 residents experiencing homelessness in Frankston.
- Life-Gate Food Van empowers vulnerable youth and families through professional counselling, life-skills training, and outreach services addressing addiction, trauma, and crisis. This funding will support over 2,400 people with food, rent assistance, material aid, and vital counselling to foster hope and healing in our community.
- Local 2 Community is a volunteer-run charity, providing essential food pantry services, hot meals, and material aid to thousands in Frankston North. This funding will support these vital services through programs like free community connection sessions and a Christmas gift drive as well as a new youth community development program benefiting over 10,000 local residents.
- Mums Supporting Families in Need (MSFIN) support families who are engaged with caseworkers and experiencing crisis, disadvantage, or hardship. Through partnerships with over 100 local welfare agencies and services, MSFIN supply clothing, toiletries, nappies, nursery items, school supplies, and pantry staples.
This funding will go towards efforts delivered to the Frankston community and aim to ease financial strain, support those fleeing family violence, and help families rebuild with dignity and stability.
- Operation Larder provides emergency food relief and essential support services to individuals and families experiencing hardship in the community, helping to alleviate food insecurity and promote wellbeing. This funding will be used for the direct purchase of non-perishable food items used for emergency relief.
- Peninsula Christian Care provides essential food, toiletries, and pet supplies to hundreds of people in need, alongside budgeting support, no-interest loan assistance, and community programs like lunches and social gatherings. This funding will help the initiative – Pantry Plus - to sustain pantry provisions, emergency food relief, and vital community connections for over 1,000 local residents.
- Project Fresh Start provides free, nutritious plant-based meals and groceries through community fridges, lunches, and partnerships—combining food security, social connection, and environmental care for thousands in Frankston. This funding will support over 5,500 people through community meals, fridge access, and special events like the Christmas lunch.
- Sikh Volunteers Australia provides free, nutritious meals to individuals and families experiencing hardship, especially during crises and emergencies. This funding will help support the provision of freshly cooked vegetarian meals delivered 3 times a week for free to community members in need in Frankston City.
- Street Peace Ltd works to reduce youth violence and build safer communities by providing early intervention, mentoring, and outreach programs that empower young people to make positive life choices. This funding will help pay for the staff who provide support and mentoring for at-risk and disengaged youth in Frankston.
- Theodora House Inc. and the Cheerful Givers - provide year-round food security and essential support to families and individuals facing financial hardship in Frankston, distributing free food hampers, meals hygiene products, and donated clothing - all delivered by dedicated volunteers. This funding will aid in sustaining vital assistance for over 4,000 residents in need.
- U3A Frankston offers lifelong learning opportunities, social connection, and personal growth for older adults through a wide range of educational classes, workshops, and community activities—all fostering active, engaged, and connected lives in the Frankston area. This funding will help support operational costs ensuring a low cost entry point for members and courses offered.
- YSAS – through Frankston Headspace - provides vital support, advocacy, and intervention for young people facing challenges such as substance use, homelessness, and mental health issues, helping them build resilience and access pathways to safer, healthier futures. This funding will be used to provide access to material resources that assist activities of daily living for young people experiencing isolation
Support Agencies
- Smacktalk was founded by Frankston Citizen of the Year Wayne Holdsworth after the tragic loss of his son. Smacktalk delivers vital suicide prevention education focused on early intervention and skill-building across schools, community groups, and workplaces. This funding will help expand their life-saving programs, empowering people to recognise and support those struggling with suicidal thoughts.
- Smiles for Life a project by The Business of Smiles is a grassroots initiative that creates safe, alcohol-free spaces for men to connect, reflect, and grow through courageous conversations and community-led support. At its heart, Smiles for Life is about strengthening the fabric of the community by helping men show up for themselves, their families, and each other.
This funding it will make it accessible for many men who are restricted financially to be a part of a conversation that will support them.
- That's The Thing About Fishing supports individuals facing mental health challenges and disabilities by offering therapeutic fishing programs that promote wellbeing, social connection, and life skills. This funding will help run fishing clinics, mental health support, and the Junior Guru Fishing Club for youth engagement and outdoor education.
- The Women's Spirit Project empowers women experiencing disadvantage through free fitness and wellbeing programs that build resilience, confidence, and connection.
This funding will expand both in-person and virtual programs, enabling more women facing financial stress in Frankston to access vital support and community.
Large scale funding recipients
$100,000 to Peninsula Community Legal Centre for two separate programs.
- School Lawyer Program: Empowering Young People
A $50,000 grant will fund the delivery of a School Lawyer Program in local secondary schools, helping students overcome barriers to accessing legal support and increasing their understanding of rights and responsibilities.
- Tenancy Service: Supporting Residents at Risk
A further $50,000 will enable PCLC to expand its free tenancy legal service, offering critical support to renters, rooming house residents and caravan park tenants facing housing insecurity.
$45,000 to Community Support Frankston. In response to growing cost-of-living pressures, CSF will use some of the funding to partner with a local restaurant to provide free, hot, and nutritious sit-down meals in a welcoming environment. This will complement CSF’s existing on-site community meals program, run in partnership with Council’s Meals on Wheels service.
$40,000 to Menzies Care for Kids for their School Based Paediatric Clinics (SBPCs)
The funding will support the development of a sustainable model for school-based paediatric clinics (SBPCs), aimed at reaching children who may otherwise miss out on critical care.
School-based clinics are backed by the World Health Organisation as effective environments for delivering healthcare to children, with research showing the onsite clinics improve health and education outcomes, reduce absenteeism, and enable early intervention.
$30,000 to Frankston Charitable Fund. Frankston Charitable Fund is a charitable fund account of the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation. It was established in 2009 and aims to raise much-needed funds to assist charitable organisations that operate in the Frankston community by encouraging tax-deductible donations that build up the Fund corpus in perpetuity. Each year the Fund is allocated a grants budget which is then made available to eligible charities in the form of grants.
$20,000 in funding to the Victorian Police Blue Ribbon Foundation – Peninsula Branch to deliver health and safety initiatives in the community, whilst recognising the incredible work that Victoria Police continue to do on behalf of the community. The funds will directly support the Foundation’s work in providing life-saving medical equipment to local hospitals including the purchase of two Fetal Monitoring Ultrasound machines to reduce stillbirth rates.
$10,000 to support the re-establishment of Neighborhood Watch Frankston through a partnership with local residents, Neighbourhood Watch Victoria, and Frankston Police. The group works to educate residents on crime prevention techniques and encourage community vigilance.
*Edited 24 October 2025.