Ten community football clubs across Australia have received a Bunnings Helping Hand grant worth $20,000 to create inclusive and welcoming club facilities for women and girls.
Bunnings Helping Hand is a program designed to assist community football clubs to build and upgrade female-friendly facilities that are essential to the continued growth of the women's game at a grassroots level.
Having received a record number of entries in its third year, Bunnings Helping Hand will fund facility upgrades for local clubs across the country. These upgrades include adding privacy doors and screens to existing changerooms and shower facilities, removing urinals from previously male-only toilets and installing parenting facilities.
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Bunnings Managing Director Michael Schneider said: "We are really privileged to help play a small part in improving community football clubs across the country through our Helping Hand program.
"Providing 10 local clubs across Australia with the means to improve their facilities and create an inclusive environment for female participants is important to developing women's AFL at a grassroots and elite level.
"We look forward to our store teams providing some hands-on support to community clubs that have received grants to upgrade their facilities and ensure better amenities are accessible for the next generation of female footballers."
AFL Executive General Manager Game Development, Rob Auld, said: "Football for women and girls across the country has surged in popularity and with this comes a need for the development of female-friendly facilities, a major focus area for the AFL which the Bunnings Helping Hand program directly supports.
"Thanks to Bunnings, the winning clubs will be able to develop more welcoming, safe and inclusive environments for their communities and participants, which will only encourage greater participation and contribute to the ongoing growth of the female game."
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Three-time AFLW Premiership player and 2022 Bunnings Helping Hand ambassador Erin Phillips said: "Investing in grassroots women's AFL is not only important to building strong communities, but it is essential to strengthening the game at its elite level.
"The take-up that we've seen for the Bunnings Helping Hand program this year is representative of that, and I'm very excited to see clubs across Australia create better environments for their women's programs for years to come."
Nationally, 47 per cent of venues are used for female football competition and training, however, only 34 per cent are considered female friendly, as shown in the Women's Football Vision 2030 released last year.
Since its inception in 2020, the Bunnings Helping Hand program has provided $440,000 to more than 27 football clubs across Australia to improve their local facilities.
Announced during the broadcast of the 2022 NAB AFLW Grand Final Season 7, the community football clubs that have received a grant to help create gender inclusive facilities thanks to the Bunnings Helping Hand program are –
- Ainslie Football Club (ACT)
- Airport West Football Club (VIC)
- Wynnum Vikings Australian Football & Sporting Club (QLD)
- Glasshouse Hinterland Australian Football Club (QLD)
- Onkaparinga Valley Football Club (SA)
- Fitzroy Community & Sports Clubs (SA)
- Nowra Albatross Football Club (NSW)
- St Ives Junior AFL Club (NSW)
- Pinjarra Football and Netball Club (WA)
- Hillwood Football Club (TAS)
Information about the return of the Bunnings Helping Hand program in 2023 will be released next year.
For more information about Bunnings Helping Hand program, visit afl.com.au/bunningshelpinghand