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The Adventist Heritage Centre at Avondale College is one of only two Hunter-based groups to receive a federal grant to help preserve its collections.

Minister for the arts and sport Rod Kemp announced the $6490 grant, at the National Library of Australia in Canberra on November 8. The grant will fund a significance assessment and preservation survey. "We're using the money to independently assess our collections to establish our national significance and prioritise our preservation activities," says curator Rose-lee Power.

The centre, which opened in 1977 and is based on the college's Lake Macquarie campus, houses more than 2000 document boxes, each consisting of Seventh-day Adventist Church records, diaries, notes, personal letters, publications and other miscellaneous items, and more than 3000 audio recordings and books. Its collections are growing at 35 linear metres a year, providing fertile research for anyone interested in the work and lives of past Seventh-day Adventists in the South Pacific.

The government distributed more than $390,000 to 80 groups from around Australia to help in the identification and preservation of community owned but nationally significant heritage collections. Senator Kemp said the collections "chronicle our lives-past and present." They also reflect geographic diversity with collection locations ranging from central business districts of capital cities to small, isolated villages.

The Community Heritage Grants Program began in 1993. In that time, 506 projects have received a total of more than $2 million in funding.

Credit: Gilmore Tanabose