Greater Charitable Foundation has announced a commitment of close to $800,000 to support four new charitable partners over the next three years.
The new partnerships with batyr, The University of Newcastle, The Smith Family and Dress for Success Sydney build on the Foundation’s commitment to support charitable organisations that are building better life outcomes, with a particular focus on improving the financial wellbeing of participants and their families.
Greater Charitable Foundation Chief Executive Officer, Anne Long, said the new partnerships will deliver significant lasting impacts.
“We are delighted to once again announce a series of partnerships that will make a real difference to the lives of a diverse range of people across regional NSW,” Ms Long said.
“The partnerships all have a clear focus on improving educational and employment outcomes, which feeds into better, long-term outcomes for people in terms of both personal and financial wellbeing, which is a key objective of the Foundation.”
The Foundation’s latest commitment will take its current partnerships to nine and total contribution since establishment in 2011 to more than $12.7 million.
The two-year batyr@uni program equips university communities with the education, mental health literacy and skills to create stigma-free and supportive environments. Conducted at the University of Newcastle over a two-year period, the program aims to improve the mental health and overall wellbeing of young people in tertiary education by providing a holistic, peer-to-peer experience for students.
The Greater Charitable Foundation Equity Scholarship will support students facing educational disadvantage due to financial hardship, allowing them an opportunity to study at the University of Newcastle, focus on their education and excel in their chosen field. This three-year partnership presents an exciting opportunity to make meaningful differences to students’ lives and advance the community through the power of education and the long-term benefits that it provides.
The Smith Family’s Learning for Life program provides students in need with a proven combination of financial, personal and practical support, which empowers young people to harness education and build skills to unlock their true potential. In addition, Greater Charitable Foundation’s three-year partnership with The Smith Family will also support Digital Learning Essentials program, as being digitally included is a vital part of giving young Australians an equal chance to learn and thrive at school. Currently, one in six students on the Learning for Life program lives in a household that is not digitally included. Bridging this gap is essential for realising socio-economic equality.
Dress for Success Sydney’s Newcastle-Hunter branch supports hundreds of women into employment across the region. Their signature Styling service and suite of Career Support offerings aim to help women overcome bias and discrimination when entering or re-entering the workforce - at no cost to the women needing the services. This partnership will support Dress for Success’ move to a larger showroom to meet the growing demand for its services in the Hunter Region, including the delivery of Career Support Program workshops.
Ms Long said that the Foundation was delighted to link with four outstanding organisations with a proven record in delivering quality support to its communities.
“The batyr program prioritises improving the mental health of students, which is an area of real concern given the confronting rates of mental illness among young Australians, so we are pleased to be able to help them deliver their batyr@uni program for the next two years,” Ms Long said.
“The Smith Family programs are almost a forerunner to those of batyr and University of Newcastle, in providing the foundation for school students to unlock their potential and build the learning skills that enable them to pursue further educational and training opportunities in later life.
“Finally, Dress for Success is an amazing organisation that helps to remove some of the barriers for women looking to improve their lives through better employment prospects, so we’re very pleased to again be able to support their mission to help women overcome vulnerability.
“I’m extremely proud of the work that we have done in supporting our communities since the Foundation was established in 2011, and while $12.7 million in total funding support is an extraordinary figure, the benefits this has provided to communities will live on for many years,” Ms Long concluded.
