Nov 14-16, CFF Founder Catherine Freeman and Jamie Howden, who currently has commenced a 4 week term of consultancy work with CFF, caught up with the community and the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation (ALNF) team who were also working on Palm Island.

The visit gave Catherine and Jamie an opportunity to see first-hand the wonderful work of major CFF partner ALNF, who currently are working on Palm Island from Nov 5 – 18.

The Early Childhood Language (ECL) and Literacy Parent Project (LP) is a 3 year plan, and ALNF Founder and Chairman Mary-Ruth Mendel is very happy with how the program is progressing so far.

“The skills of Palm Island teacher’s assistants are just marvellous! Absolutely marvellous!”

The visit to Palm Island also presented Catherine, Jamie and Mary-Ruth, the opportunity to be part of a Palm Island Community Education Council (PICEC) meeting which saw a very broad range of Palm Island specific educational issues discussed and explored by all stakeholders including community leaders, government representatives and local school representatives.

CFF, ALNF and the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) also came together as the ECL & LLP Steering Committee making the Palm Island trip overall a very fruitful and significant experience.

CFF wishes to thank ALNF for their tremendous work, PICEC for allowing CFF participation in their forum, and DEEWR for their ongoing support.

Nov 11, Daphne Lawrence commenced work in her role as CFF Program Community Liaison Manager.

Palm Island born Daphne is a highly regarded community member who has recently completed her Social Work Degree in Geelong.

CFF are very proud to have Daphne join our team and we look forward to achieving some great results together in the future.

October 20 & 21, the CFF team, including Founder Catherine Freeman, General Manager Trish Ennis, and Communications Manager Candace Ohanessian, visited Palm Island to be a part of our Non-truancy/Literacy Awards and Champion of Hope Fun Run.

Students of the 2 Palm Island schools, St Michael’s and Bwgcolman, were awarded and recognised for their work ethic, attitude and improvement in literacy. After the awards ceremony the schoolchildren participated in the first annual Champion of Hope Fun Run. As rainy weather kept everyone indoors the children ran laps in the undercover area of the PCYC complex.

The Fun Run was a festive event which saw children running enthusiastically and experiencing the joy of exercise. The run was followed by a community BBQ.

The CFF team enjoyed 2 very busy days on the Island meeting with community leaders, school staff and children, and CFF’s Palm Island Community Consultation Group (PICCG).

CFF also enjoyed the local netball competitions including the CFF-sponsored under 13 girls team, and the open-age unisex Grand Final competition that saw Nabal win over the Panthers.

Eve Ash, a psychologist, film producer and well known public speaker and presenter, along with her 2 man film crew, introduced the animated series ‘Finding My Magic’ to Palm Island school children and teachers. The animation features CFF Founder Catherine Freeman as one of its characters and is a 12-episode series highlighting the usefulness and power of positive self talk to drive greater individual performance and self esteem.

CFF would like to acknowledge Yolanda Coutts for her dedication to the netball program, Jen Healy for her assistance with the Fun Run, Deneice Geia for assistance with logistics and for her wise counsel, and Sgt Bernie Mead for help on too many issues to mention.

Thanks to all who participated in the PICCG meeting and to the teachers and administrators that help our Non-Truancy/Literacy program to happen. You are our Champions!

CFF also would like to thank Eve Ash for her support.

Sep 30: the CFF team consisting of Founder Catherine Freeman, General Manager Trish Ennis, Financial Controller Alison Jackson, and Communications Manager Candace Ohanessian presented the CFF story to one of our greatest supporters, Lander & Rogers, at their Melbourne city office.

Lander & Rogers has been a CFF partner since March 2010 and the CFF team was privileged to be able to provide to them further insight and information into our programs, operations and management.

We would especially like to thank Derek Humphrey-Smith and Jo Renkin for relationship management; Bill Brown, Margaret Vitale, Olivia Mason and Isabella Calabro for their help with the Champion of Hope Fun Run; Bill Brown, Margaret Vitale and Olivia Mason for their assistance with the Literacy Program; and Derek Humphrey-Smith, Daniel Proietto, Emma Purdue, and Elizabeth Carrick for Compliance and Operations assistance.

CFF thanks Lander & Rogers for their tremendous ongoing support.

Sep 23: CFF commenced working with Melbourne-based, internationally renowned brand design company, Cowan Design.

CFF is proud to be working with Cowan, and is delighted to announce that they will be servicing us pro bono.

Our deepest thanks to the team at Cowan.