A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors

A Message from the Chair | BMI Board of Directors | July 2026

Membership Contriubtions

I imagine many of you have received requests for financial assistance from many organisations, as the month of June draws to a close thus representing the End of the Financial Year for most businesses and indeed Not for Profits.

For the BMI, we are already 2 months into our financial year and not only diligently monitoring our performance but actively working to increase the philanthropic and fundraising outcomes on which we depend for sustainability. These areas are Board responsibilities and we are honoured to maintain and enhance the connection with community which allows us to aspire to meeting budgets in these areas. I thank all of you for your continued membership contributions which also underpins our sustainability and if you have been able to donate we are so grateful and look forward to sharing the achievements or the organisation, which would not be possible without your contributions.

Fundraising Events

Please have look below to see the Fundraising events being hosted by the BMI, including:

Trivia Night,
Fashion Parade,
Book Sale,
Cinema Minerva film nights, and,
the much loved Open Garden.

Tickets will be available very soon.

Spring Book Sale
5 & 6 September, 10am – 2pm

Vintage Fashion Parade
6 September, 11am – 2pm

BMI Visitation

As we read last month, the Ballarat Heritage Festival saw many new visitors coming through our doors, indeed around 1200 people visited the Institute in the weeks around the Festival and specifically 32 new members were gained on the back of the Festival weekend alone. We welcome these new members and look forward to seeing them at an event or in the library very soon!

June has also welcomed the Royal South Street Society back into the building for the 2026 season. I was fortunate enough to attend the season launch and enjoy the incredible talent on offer. I encourage anyone who would like a day out to purchase a ticket to this iconic Eisteddfod.

Venue Management

From the desk of the Venue Manager, our Stage Ready workforce development program continues to gain momentum.

Workshops have been successfully delivered, and the program has attracted interest across the sector, including presentation at a statewide conference. This positions the Institute as a leader in regional skills development and will ultimately see a new cohort of skilled theatre technicians available across our city and of course to the BMI.

A major achievement has been the continued rollout of our new internally developed Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Venue Management System.

This is now operating as a core business tool, helping us manage bookings, events, safety, and reporting more efficiently.

The Institute continues to experience strong growth in venue use, events, and community programs. We are now moving into the next phase of development – focusing on improving the financial return from our activities, making better use of quieter periods, and developing conference and training opportunities.

Our venue spaces are increasingly in demand, and we are working on strategies to ensure they are used effectively and sustainably. We have strengthened our events team with several new staff members, helping us deliver the growing number of activities and services that now form part of our weekly programming. These events include fabulous music, theatre, author talks (the frequency of which are increasing inline with Rosemary’s hard work and determined nature), children’s programs and film to mention a few. Some events are indeed a sell-out, so don’t delay if you are interested in tickets!!

With all this activity, comes challenges around organisational capacity, as we experience growth in demand balanced with changes in expectations and reporting duties.

As we consider what additional support may be needed to ensure high-quality services while maintaining a sustainable workload, we are fortunate to be applying for a number of grants through public and private sectors to support our growth. Stay tuned for results!

Website

Our work on the re-development of the BMI Website is continuing and will shortly see a brand new website being built. We are thrilled to announce a wonderful and very generous pro-bono contribution by Stoke Design as part of their ongoing community work.

Stoke Design have been graciously hosting the existing website during the development of the brief which has included persona development, staff and volunteer consultation, technical interrogation and marketing oversight – this work largely being conducted by Stoke Design for the last 6 months and we thank them so much for their work to date. This exciting renewal will take place over the next few months.

Heritage Collection

Regarding the Heritage Collection we are eagerly awaiting the results of a grant application to the National Library within the Community Heritage Grant area. This year, we are hopeful that we may receive some funding to provide more training for our exisiting Collections Volunteers and training for new recruits, in the area of book care and conservation.

The outcome of this application will be released later this year. We were successful in obtaining a Community Impact Grant through the City of Ballarat for Disaster Preparedness Training in collaboration with a number of other not for profit organisations in town; again this will provide an interesting opportunity for staff and volunteers.

Please enjoy the rest of the newsletter, there is certainly a lot to take in and importantly please pass this on to at least one other friend who doesn’t know about the Institute yet, we know there are many of those and we would like to chip away at that percentage until the majority of Ballarat understands and regularly enjoys the community that is the BMI!

Paula Nicholson, President

Our Vision

To promote an inclusive and diverse community. This is achieved through sharing knowledge, providing a unique place to engage with history, and a vibrant hub for community events.