FAQs

The Grit and Resilience Program is a state‑funded initiative delivered through the Rural City of Wangaratta. It’s guided by a community‑led Consortium made up of 13 community members and 6 partner organisations, all working together to strengthen connection, belonging and everyday wellbeing across our region.

The program exists because strong communities are built from local ideas, local leadership and the lived experience of the people who call Wangaratta home.

Council has supported the Grit and Resilience Program to lead decisions about what should happen with the salvaged Merriwa Park timber. That work has included talking with stakeholders, listening to community feedback and shaping a project that reflects what people said they wanted.

This project is only possible because Council backed a community‑driven approach, and because the Grit and Resilience Program was able to invest in turning those conversations into something real.

The Story Space is funded by the Grit and Resilience Program because it ticks all the boxes that matter to the Consortium and to the community:

• It honours the stories and history people hold about Merriwa Park.
• It strengthens connection and a sense of belonging.
• It responds directly to what the community asked for when the red gum timber was saved.
• It creates a lasting, thoughtful space where people can see their own lives and memories represented.

Without this funding, the Story Space simply wouldn’t exist. This is a community idea brought to life by a community‑led program.