Participation Support Active Merri-bek 26/27

Welcome to the Merri-bek's City Council's online grant application service, powered by SmartyGrants.

Participation Support Membership Grant Program

The Active Merri-bek Participation Support Membership Grant Program is funded by Council's Community Grants Program. Funding can be provided to perminant residents that lives in Merri-bek to assist with costs towards a three-month membership/program fee at any of the Active Merri-bek Council Leisure Centres. It is preferred that a financial commitment is made by the participant which usually will consist of a discounted payment of the start up fee.

Merri-bek City Council is committed to ensuring that barriers to participation are reduced for those in need.  Participation Support Grants program can fund up to 120 concession support memberships each year to eligible residents of Merri-bek. The support will provide a reduced or free centre based 3-month membership. To complete this application you will need to answer each question to and provide documentation supporting the need for financial assistance. 

How do you apply?
First, you must speak to a Membership Officer at your nearest Active Merri-bek Leisure Centre.

The process for an application:
~ Applicant, or wellness support agency on behalf of applicant completes application form online.
~ A referral letter from the wellness support agency must be attached outlining the need for support.
~ Membership Coordinator conducts a elegibility check of the application using criteria.
~ Active Merri-bek's Community Activation Director will assess and make recommendations for Council to consider.
~ If successful the Leisure Centre will advise of the outcome and coordinate with the applicant or support agency (if required).
~ Elegibility, assessment and outcome process may take 14 - 21 days.

Who is eligible?

Applicant must
~ Eligible participants must be nominated by a referral agency that provides accredited high-level individual and family support services; to assess eligibility for support (unfortunately GP doctors surgery and/or outpatient referrals cannot be accepted).
~ Eligible participants must be holders of a current Services Australia issued - Low Income Health Care Card (for a child application – the child must me named on the parent / guardians card)
~ Eligible participants must provide evidence of being a permanent resident in Merri-bek (photo ID, utility bill or licence with current address)
~ Any further support provided after an initial 3-month special concession membership will be determined in consultation with the participant, centre staff and referring health agency professional.  
~ The participant must attend the facility / program regularly and improvement in health and lifestyle must be evident.

For queries about the guidelines, deadlines, or questions in the form, please contact the Active Merri-bek centre https://active.merri-bek.vic.gov.au/  during business hours or email community@activemerri-bek.com.au and quote your application number.

Participant’s rights and responsibilities

~ If you require a carer they will be granted access at no charge when accompanying you and display their Companion Card.
~ Active Merri-bek has an expectation that you will commit to making the most of your membership by attending as often as possible.
~ Active Merri-bek understands that circumstances may at times affect your ability to attend the centre. If this occurs please contact your leisure centre and discuss this with them.

Your participation and membership should be a positive and enjoyable. If f this is not the case or you have any other feedback, please speak to the Program Director  on  9354 3504 or Aquatics and Leisure staff at Council on 9240 1111.

What happens next?
Assessment and subsequent approval of this application may take approximately 4 weeks. You may be contacted to provide further information as part of the assessment process.  The application is requesting Council funding to support a Active Merri-bek Concession Support Membership and therefore this process may take a little time to administer.  

Please note: A maximim of 120 grants toward Participation Support Memberships accross Merri-bek can be supported each year.

Navigating through the form

On every page of the form you will see a Form Navigation panel. This links directly to each page of the form, so you can click a page name to jump directly to the page you want.

You can also click 'Next Page' or 'Previous Page' on the top or bottom of each page to move forward or backward through the form.

Please ensure you save your form as you go.

Saving a draft

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If you wish to leave a partially completed form, click 'Save and Close' and log out.

You can reopen your draft form and continue where you left off. When you log back in and click on the My Submissions link at the top of the screen, you will find a list of any submissions you have started or submitted. Click the submission number or the arrow icon to expand the list of associated forms, and click on the form name to continue filling it out.

You can also download any form, whether draft or completed, as a PDF. In the ‘My Submissions’ area of your account click on the submission number, then click the red PDF icon beside the form you want to download or, while filling out the form, click on the ‘Download PDF' button located at the top and bottom of the last page (’Review and Submit').

Submitting your form

You will find a Review and Submit page listed at the bottom of the Form Navigation panel. You need to review your form before you can submit it. You will not be able to submit your form until all the required fields are completed and there are no validation errors.

Once you have reviewed your form and corrected any errors you can submit it by clicking on the Submit button at the top or bottom of the screen.

Once you have submitted your form no further editing or uploading of supporting documents is possible.

When you have successfully submitted your form you will see a confirmation page, and you will receive a confirmation email with a copy of your submitted form attached. This will be sent to the email address you use to login, or the owner of the submission if you are collaborating on the form.

If you don't see a confirmation page or receive a confirmation email then you should presume that your form has NOT been submitted.

Hint: also check the email hasn't landed in your spam or junk email folder.

You can return to the My Submissions page of your account to view the submission status of the form.

Attachments

You may need to upload/submit attachments to support your application. This is very simple but requires you to have the documents saved on your computer, or on a storage device.

You need to allow enough time for each file to upload before trying to attach another file. Files can be up to 25MB each; however, we do recommend trying to keep files to a maximum of 5MB – the larger the file, the longer the upload time.

Collaborating on your submission

A number of people can collaborate on a submission as long as

1. you have created a SmartyFile Organisation and
2. only one person is working on the form at a time.

Ensure you save as you go.

Session time-out warning

For security reasons, your login session will expire after 20 minutes of inactivity. Saving your form or navigating to another page resets the timer.

You’ll be prompted 90 seconds before your session expires, with the option to extend your session or log out. If you don’t respond to the prompt in time, your form will be automatically saved before your session ends.

Even so, we recommend saving your form regularly – especially when working on longer responses – to avoid losing any work.