Avenel Active has been awarded funding through a Strathbogie Shire Council grant program to deliver a number of projects, including aiding the Avenel pool.
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Grant funding has pooled into one of Avenel’s vital community assets.
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As part of Strathbogie Shire Council’s 2025-26 Community Strengthening and Sustainability Grants Program, local volunteer group Avenel Active has been awarded $9967 to support a number of its projects.
A large portion of the funding, around $7000, will be used in partnership with community group Friends of the Avenel Swimming Pool for the purchase of an automatic pool vacuum cleaner.
Helen Gwilliam of Avenel Active said the cleaner was much-needed for the community facility.
“We hired an automatic vacuum cleaner as a pilot project with Strathbogie Shire Council a few years ago after lifeguards raised concerns about the time needed to complete pool cleaning and the physical wear and tear of using the current manual pool cleaner,” Ms Gwilliam said.
“The automatic cleaner ran to a set program without supervision, reducing the manual workload, freeing lifeguards for other tasks and improving water quality.”
The Friends of the Avenel Pool is run by a team of local volunteers dedicated to keeping the pool in good condition for the community.
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Friends of the Avenel Pool, a volunteer-led group that has been operating in the community for around two decades, has delivered a number of projects for the local pool, including raising funds for play equipment, painting the change rooms and encouraging locals to get involved as pool guards.
Group member John Thomson said it was important for the community to keep the pool in good condition.
“In smaller towns, you find there’s not so many things, especially for the young ones, to do,” Mr Thomson said.
“Apart from helping us in hotter summers, (the pool is) also a good place for social gatherings.
“Community pools are expensive to run ... But, they are an asset.”
Aside from serving as an integral social gathering space, access to the pool has been vital for kids in town, with VicSwim running swimming lessons there, so families don’t have to travel to access swim safety education.
Along with the pool project, the council funding will also support Avenel Active with two other projects.
“The rest of the grant will be used for a couple of small projects,” Ms Gwilliam said.
“To deliver Avenel Local Emergency Action Plan Emergency Preparedness Workshops in 2025-26, with a focus on supporting residents with disability or health conditions to develop tailored emergency plans.
“And, continue the delivery of the Go Nagambie Community Voice newspaper to 400 households in Avenel, to share local and regional information and support community connectedness.”
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