The Sydney Community Foundation has welcomed a grant of $250,000 from the Keneally Government. The Hon Linda Burney, Minister for Community Services, visited the Foundation’s office to announce the grant.
Ms Burney said this funding was part of the Government’s ongoing commitment to the Foundation, and is on top of previous contributions of $200,000.
“Many of the world’s great cities have a community foundation to revitalise local communities through philanthropic giving to marginalised and vulnerable groups: children and young people living in poverty, Aboriginal communities and the aged,” she said.
The grant will be used to enable the Sydney Community Foundation (SCF) to build capacity. Importantly the Foundation aims to grow philanthropy in Western and South Western Sydney and to increase the range of grants made to groups in that area of Greater Sydney. The funding will also enable the Foundation to continue its work to build the capacity of grass roots community organizations, an essential part of the SCF’s community engagement strategy.
The Sydney Community Foundation was established in 2003 with the objective of building a permanently endowed fund to generate and distribute resources to assist community organisations to address the real issues, needs and hardships in their own back yards. SCF is the only Community Foundation in Greater Sydney and was created as a direct response to the emerging need for a more community based approach to philanthropy. Small grants can change lives. Individual contributions added together can make a huge difference.
One of the Foundation’s key projects is the Sydney Women’s Fund, which aims to help women and girls achieve their potential and live safely without fear or discrimination or disadvantage through a permanently endowed fund that will provide a growing and perpetual stream of funds.
Rosalind Strong, Chair of the Foundation, said that as Greater Sydney grows, so too does the range of communities at risk.
“We work to build philanthropy across Greater Sydney. Our job is to find and identify 'at risk' communities and discover a way, through direct philanthropy and donor connection, to relieve their burden and support their needs,” she said. “This grant from the NSW Government frees up the Sydney Community Foundation to enlarge its reach and make Sydney a fairer city for all its citizens."
Media Contacts: Sydney Community Foundation: Rosalind Strong 0412 262 909
Examples of work funded by the Foundation follows:
Our Success stories
The Sydney Community Foundation, at this stage of our development, seeks to recognize emerging needs and support innovation, provide seed funding to demonstrate viability and continuing need, and support the projects to find funding through longer term grants and donations.
Young Black and Deadly
This project was brought to us by Brad Cook CEO of Gadigal Radio. Modeled on Black and Deadly, he wanted to create awards for late primary and early secondary aged Aboriginal children which would build self esteem and increase their prospects of staying on to complete their education. Workshops conducted by Leah Purcell and Casey Donovan, encouraged them in performance and the kids met success by performing on Koori radio. The awards have continued and the program has found ongoing funding.
Community action shows it’s easy to be green
The GreenHome project, conducted by The Australian Conservation Foundation, encourages and assists families in Sydney’s western suburbs to implement simple energy saving solutions around the house. The program was trialed in Revesby and has now spread to 40 councils throughout the state.
Midnight Basketball - Kids off the street … and into sport:
A project that involves young people living in the inner suburbs of Sydney in sport and positive lifestyle sessions as a way of diverting them from risky behaviour. Seed funding for this program from the SCF allowed it to evolve and demonstrate its impact. Ongoing funding is now provided by a range of corporate entities, including Macquarie Bank Foundation and the Commonwealth Bank Foundation. The program has spread nationally.
The Sydney Women’s Fund of the Sydney Community Foundation
This fund brings together a cross cultural alliance of women who provide financial support to projects led by women seeking to overcome barriers faced by women and girls. We’ve built a permanently endowed fund that will provide a growing and perpetual stream of funds to support projects that contribute to the wellbeing of girls and women in Sydney. We also provide critical leadership to promote effective public policy and responsible philanthropic giving to benefit women and girls.
Supporting Grandparents to raise their grandchildren
The SCF was approached by someone who had himself been raised by his grandparents. He wished to create a fund program which supports grandparent primary carers. The SCF then approached the Council on the Ageing to work with us on the project and seed funded a project providing access to financial, educational, legal and health information and other services. Our understanding is that up to 15,000 families in NSW, the bulk in Sydney, where the sole care of the children is provided by the grandparents.
I Am Jack
Bullying is the subject of a present day national and State discussion. Using the story of a young boy being bullied, Monkey Baa Theatre for Young People presented a play exploring this difficult issue, its impact on the victim and his family, and peaceful solutions. Funding from the SCF allowed students from local schools in Sydney to experience this piece of theatre for free.