Speech pathologist Mary Cameron loves helping children learn to read.
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Mrs Cameron is based at the early intervention service Early Connections in Port Macquarie.
"We are working with children with any literacy difficulty and it includes specific learning disorders like dyslexia, a lot of our children have ADHD as well," she said.
"There are some fantastic stories of children that couldn't read last year who are now gaining fluency."
Mrs Cameron used to work in private practice but found there was a "massive service gap with children with literacy problems".
The Literacy Connect program at Early Connections received one of 20 grants handed out by Charles Sturt University's partnership program along the Mid-North Coast.
The Kendall Tennis Club was another community group which received a grant for the Todd Woodbridge Cup this weekend (September 20).
"It means all the cost is covered for the kids to play," president Wendy Hudson said.
Wauchope Little Athletics was another recipient of funding.
"The grant from CSU is directly helping us achieve our goals through the purchase of new equipment," Wauchope Little Athletics secretary Leanne Farrington said.
"Specifically we are going to use the grant to purchase new, state of the art javelins which will be used regularly on club nights to teach technique and in competition at the Zone Championships."
In 2019 the Charles Sturt University 's community-university partnership grants program awarded about $120,000 to community groups across the University footprint in Wagga Wagga, Bathurst, Port Macquarie and Orange.
Grants were available in six categories: arts and culture, education, Indigenous development, health and wellbeing, environmental sustainability, and sport.
The recipients include:
- St Joseph's Regional College for visual arts workshops and Indigenous Gathang language workshops
- St Josephs Primary School for an outdoor classroom
- Early Connections for literacy resources including C-Pens and decodable readers and for Literacy Connect
- Zonta Club of Port Macquarie for birthing kits for third world countries
- Kendall Tennis Club for sponsorship of the Todd Woodbridge Cup
- Hastings Public School for iPads
- Wauchope Public School parents and friends for home readers for students and safe play resources
- Nautilus Senior College for audio visual equipment
- Student Heart Project
- Liberty Domestic and Family Violence Support Service for Coastal Walk against domestic and family violence
- Lake Cathie Touch Football
- Beechwood Primary School for Enviro-sensory spaces
- Port Macquarie Cycling Club for junior athletes warm up event and training equipment
- Tacking Point Surf Life Saving Club for a new racing ski for cadet members
- Port Macquarie Basketball Association for the 2019 Australian School Championships
- Port Macquarie Gymnastics Club for competition management software implementation
- Wauchope Little Athletics for an upgraded javelin
- Port Saints Football Club for new women's senior uniforms
- Kempsey Adventist School
- Centacare Kempsey for funding for End of year drama and musical performance
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