Community
8 August, 2025
Barterbool wins Ideas funding
THE people have spoken and Tonia Wilcox’s “Barterbool” has won the Warrnambool City Council’s first Cheers to Ideas funding round.
Cheers to Ideas invites community members to submit simple ideas that will make Warrnambool a more vibrant and enjoyable place.
The public then votes on their favourite idea, with the winner receiving up to $2,000 in council funding to bring it to life.
Barterbool encourages people to take along a home-grown or homemade item to place on the “barter table,” receiving a raffle ticket in return.
Throughout the event, tickets will be drawn, allowing each ticket holder to select an item they love from the table to take home.
The event will also feature music and an MC to keep everyone entertained.
Draws will take place regularly, culminating in a major prize draw (the “BarterBOOM”) at the end.
Ms Wilcox described her event as “enjoyabool, sociabool, sustainabool, accessibool, portabool and reusabool.”
“I think that Barterbool is going to be a vehicle for connection, so people actually getting together,” she said.
“I think the other thing that Barterbool is really good for is to spread the message of sustainability. We don’t need to spend money and buy things constantly to satisfy ourselves and have a good time.”
Ms Wilcox said she had slowly been developing the idea in her mind for some time, with Cheers to Ideas the catalyst to her taking action.
“I’ve been thinking about this for a while. I’ve just had little ideas, and little bits would get added… and then Cheers to Ideas came up and I thought now I’ve got a vehicle for it and now I know where it can go.”
The initial plan is to hold the first Barterbool event in the Warrnambool Community Garden in October, with further details to be confirmed.
And while that will be the first Barterbool event, it won’t be the last.
Continuing the message of sustainability, Ms Wilcox said the council funding would be used to create an event kit to make Barterbool easy to run repeatedly.
“So festivals, events, schools, and markets could take the kit, and they could use the items in the kit to create their own Barterbool event,” she said.
Warrnambool mayor Cr Ben Blain congratulated Ms Wilcox on her winning idea.
“Well done Tonia and also well done to everyone else who put their idea forward,” he said.
“It’s exciting to see such passionate people in our community with creative ideas and the drive to make them happen.
“Over 180 votes were cast, so it also shows that in the community, there’s support for innovative placemaking ideas.”
Cr Blain said that applications for Cheers to Ideas round two were now open.
“If you’ve got a simple idea to make Warrnambool a more fun, connected and interesting place, then we want to hear from you. We’ve got up to $2,000 in funding to make your idea a reality,” he said.
It’s a sentiment that was echoed by Ms Wilcox.
“If you’ve got an idea don’t sit on it,” she said.
“Council’s economic development team has been incredibly encouraging and supportive. I rang them on a few occasions and asked some questions.
“There’s so many people in this town that have creative ideas that really could be put to use, so go for it.”
To find out more about Cheers to Ideas and to submit an idea for round two, visit www.warrnambool.vic.gov.au/cheers-ideas.
Round two submissions are open now and will close on Sunday, September 21.
