Seven community not-for-profits have been selected for the 2014 Future2 Make the Difference! Grants, with $70,000 awarded to programs that will support young Australians who are socially and financially disadvantaged.
Making the announcement at the Future2 Gala Dinner at the Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) Professionals Congress in Sydney tonight, Future2 director/trustee Matthew Rowe said that it is increasingly difficult to determine who to award the grants to, given the amount of quality applications received.
“We received many exemplary applications, all deserving of support for the great work they do, often with meagre resources. It is immensely rewarding to see the impact of the grants on disadvantaged young Australians. We recognise the enormous challenge faced by not-for-profits – especially small community based ones – to fund their important work”, Mr Rowe said.
Make the Difference! Grants have been awarded for 8 years and this year a total of ninety grant applications were received from all over Australia, up from 68 in 2013. Each application had the support of a local financial planning professional. The first assessment of applications was carried out by FPA Chapter regional representatives with the help of FPA members.
For the first time, Future2 has awarded multi-year grants of up to $30,000 over three years, designed to give the recipients greater certainty of funding for longer-term programs. The demand for these grants was strong. Four multi-year grants were awarded to:
Women’s Health and Family Services, Northbridge WA, for an education and empowerment program for 12-15 year olds;
Palngun Wurnangat Association, Wadeye NT, for the Widening Horizons through work experience program for 18-25 year olds;
BackTrack Youth Works, Armidale NSW, for work experience and job readiness training in agriculture, aimed at young women aged 18 to 25 years; and
Bridge Builders, Lilydale VIC, for a leadership program including education and skills training for 12-25 year olds.
Palngun Wurnangat, BackTrack and Bridge Builders have each received Future2 grants in the past. The new grants acknowledge the quality of these programs and will assist the programs to build on past successes.
Short-term grants of up to $10,000 were awarded to:
Edmund Rice Camps, Metro Melbourne VIC, for a summer camp to engage through mentoring and experience young girls aged 12-18 years;
Wirrpanda Foundation, Perth WA, for Deadly Brotha Boyz, for a fitness and mentoring program aimed at young male Aboriginal offenders, 12-18 years; and Windeward Bound Trust, Hobart TAS, for a youth leadership challenge on board the Windeward Bound, linking young Tasmanians with newly settled refugees.
Future2 Make the Difference! Grants fund projects aimed at 12-25 year olds who may be financially disadvantaged, homeless, juvenile justice offenders, drug or alcohol dependent, disabled, Indigenous or disadvantaged in some other respect. Funded projects have been in the areas of financial literacy, skills training, work experience, community service and mentoring. Since Future2 was established in 2007, the foundation has granted $390,000 to 31 organisations across Australia.
Click here for more about 2014 grant recipients http://www.future2foundation.org.au/Grants/2014