Like food, air and water, these are the absolute basics you need to get right with grants. As simple as they are, you would be surprised how many people fail to follow these Five Top Grant Tips. Get these right, and you will already be ahead of many, many others.

Reading grant guidelines is critical to achieving grants success. Yet so many people fail to read grant guidelines thoroughly. Often, it's because grant guidelines are long and can be difficult to understand, particularly if you've landed as the volunteer grants rep on your committee and you're not a grants professional.

In this episode of Grants Uncovered, I'll share with you my time-saving tips for reading grant guidelines. You won't believe how much more efficient your guideline reading becomes.

This virus has made me sad to the core, because it’s changing some of the fundamentals of the way we do life. And while we’re locking down to try and prevent the spread of a deadly disease, lockdown is also increasing the frequency and impact of other social issues, like domestic violence, relationship breakdown and social isolation.

Whether you’re struggling in your current situation or are on the cusp of something new, here are ten things I’ve learnt from the whirlwind of a personal and business ride I’ve been on.

It’s time to make a decision. And the quicker you make it, the greater the chance your organisation or business will have of surviving the many downturns we are already seeing the Coronavirus (COVID-19) bring.

Advice for Funding Bodies & Funding Recipients in relation to the Bushfires and Coronavirus COVID-19.

It’s checkup day. Tom’s has his blood pressure, sats, height and weight checked. Now we’re up to the echo. Otherwise known as limbo land. There is no other moment in life that makes me feel so much like I’m nowhere. We’re not living our normal every day life, we’re not in the clear, we’re not back on closer together checkups, and we’re not on a surgery waiting list.

Did you know that physiologically, both excitement and anxiety present very similarly?

I never used to be a fearful person. I wasn’t a stress-head or a worst-case scenario thinker. I had never had a panic attack, or even been close to one. But that was before our HeartKid was born.

It’s the giving in and giving out that I’m starting to think go hand in hand. If we focus on others alone, we can burn out and struggle ourselves both physically and mentally. Yet if we focus on ourselves alone, we’re missing the opportunity to gain perspective and see the good in our situation.

Most people know one of my ‘lemons’ is the Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) our oldest son was born with. But this past year, we’ve had another health-related lemon land in our court.

It’s like a little firework of thoughts goes off in your mind in about 5 seconds flat. There is a mix of actual rational thoughts, like the question of our coping ability at the moment, then there are the crazy, not so important thoughts, like being able to water the garden tomorrow.

There is something about a new year. I know it’s just another day, which technically doesn’t change anything from yesterday, yet there is still something undeniably different about the first day of a new year. I’m wondering whether it’s because there is an underlying sense of expectation. That something will be different. That things will change.

2018. I don’t even know where to begin with you.

As we keep racing around, we’re actually missing all those little moments that make up the beautiful bits of life. We need to stop. And breathe. We need to slow down.

I don’t know if it’s just me or not, but quite often in life I forget to have fun. The kind of fun that makes me feel young. That makes me laugh so hard my belly aches. The kind of fun that takes my kids and husband by surprise. I get so caught up in the day-to-day monotony of life, that I forget about fun.

But, every now and then I decide it’s time to surprise my family.

The importance of community helping people survive tough situations has been reiterated in a huge way at my local level this past week. When tragedy strikes, it’s quite powerful seeing people band together - to support each other, to pray together, to cry together, to sit and chat. The importance of the time we have right now becomes so real.

Both short term and long term support is needed when crisis hits. Because crisis doesn’t last forever, but the ramifications and flow on effects often do.

What is it about our Australian culture that make us feel the need to speak? What is wrong with silence? Or just a hug? Or an ‘I’m so sorry’? Why do we feel the need to make people feel better, when there is nothing that can actually make them feel better at that particular moment?

It’s a busy month in our house. Lots of extra work hours, medical appointments for various family members, volunteering, plus just the usual busyness of a family of five. Nothing extraordinary, just lots on.

Usually, these busy periods mean we buy extra takeaway and don’t eat particularly well. Shopping and meal planning just seems to fall by the wayside. Then we feel worse ourselves, which doesn’t help us cope with the extra busyness. I’m sure you’re familiar with the cycle?

Some Australian statistics, facts about my HeartKid, common misconceptions and the future.