Ballarat City councillors will be advised to not allocate funding for two of the city’s most high profile charity events at Wednesday’s council meeting.
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Council officers are advising councillors to decline funding applications from Run Ballarat, which raises money for the Ballarat Base Hospital, and the Fiona Elsey Cancer Research Institute Cycle Classic.
Run Ballarat, which is managed by the Cotton On Foundation, has managed to raise $920,000 for the hospital over the past five years. Organisers are applying for a $15,000 cash grant.
Meanwhile the FECRI Cycle Classic has raised $1.6 million for cancer research over the past decade and is applying for a $25,000 grant.
Ballarat City mayor Samantha Mclntosh said while nobody was questioning the validity of the events, council needed to be responsible when funding events and needed to consider the best interests of ratepayers.
“The big focus is to support events which present an opportunity to attract new people to Ballarat for tourism and future development but at the same time we want people to become self dependent and we don't want everyone to be reliant on council for financial support,” Cr Mclntosh said.
The 2018 FECRI Cycle Classic aims to attract 4340 participants, including 2690 locals and 1650 visitors from across the state. Meanwhile Run Ballarat, which is scheduled for October 22, is expecting to attract 8000 participants including 3500 runners from outside Ballarat.
While not willing to comment on the ramifications of the upcoming council vote, FECRI fundraising and events coordinator Sarah Stapleton said “100 per cent of what we raise from that event goes to cancer research and that's enabled by the sponsorship we get”.
Councillors are also set to make a judgement of a number of other grant applications including the Ballarat Beer Festival, SpringFest and the Frolic Festival later this year.
Council officers are recommending all three events receive funding, with $16,000, $10,000 and $5800 expected to be given to each event respectively.
Both the Beer Fest and SpringFest a long-time recipients of council grants, while the Frolic Festival, which celebrates the LGBTI community in regional Victoria, is being held for the first time this October.
The week-long festival will feature events across the city including an art show, a film night and a ball.
