The Catherine Freeman Foundation

LATEST NEWS

Catherine Freeman Foundation Newsletter #2
Apr 21, 08:10 PM

Greetings all.
Its now April 2008 and the CFF have forged ahead with new relationships and consolidated existing relationships with the community of Palm Island. We have recently joined forces with Andrew Penfold and his newly formed Australian Indigenous Education Fund. We have ramped up the non-truancy bike initiative for 2008, with 20 bikes on offer. We have progressed with establishing the Community Learning Centre and are working together with the community of Palm Island to locate a suitable venue. We have committed to 2 CFF fundraising initiatives in 2008; the first in June at the National Sports Museum at the MCG in Melbourne. The second will be a Christmas functions details of which will be confirmed soon.

Both Westpac Women’s Markets Group and Gant have nominated CFF as charity of the year 2008. We have joined forces with Cottage by the Sea to provide an educational holiday for 8-12 students from Palm Island in Victoria, dates to be confirmed
mid April.

I’m really proud of the progress we have made in such a short time and would like to thank all supporters for their words of encouragement, their offers of help and their kind donations. For those of you who would like to join us or make a donation, please
log onto the CFF website donation page for more information.

Community Spirit – Palm Island April 2008

The CFF visited Palm Island on 2-5 April to reconnect with the members of the community and meet with the newly elected council to discuss proposed CFF activity in 2008. As a result of the partnership with CFF on Palm Island, the community and council have bestowed Catherine with the incredible honor of being an ‘Ambassador of Palm Island’.

Niddre Secondary College to support CFF

The students at Niddre Secondary College have made a commitment to support the CFF in 2008 through raising funds for the highly successful CFF Non -Truancy bike initiative. There will be a series of student initiated fundraising activities planned, with 3 student to accompany the CFF team to Palm Island in December 2008 to award the bikes. The CFF team will travel to Palm Island on 14,15,16 May to present both Bwgcolman and St Michael’s schools with one CFF branded bike each, to be on display until bikes are awarded in December 2008. Criteria to win a bike and helmet is for school attendance, positive attitude and abiding by the school code of conduct. There are to be 10 bikes on offer for each school, an increase of 5 from 2007.

CFF Event – National Sports Museum

The CFF is organising an exclusive cocktail party fundraising and awareness event, to be held on Thursday June 12. Guests will be treated to the unveiling of the dedicated Catherine Freeman display at the National Sports Museum in Melbourne, with Cathy as the VIP tour guide (this is an invitation only event).

Friends of the CFF

We would like to thank the following supporters for offering assistance during 2008.

Gant ,Westpac Womens’ Markets Group, Carnival Australia – for choosing CFF charity of the year 2008
Other friends include: 13 strides for the website, Townsville Bicycle Centre, Badgar Ogilvy, Getty Images, Thunderbox Productions and the National Sports Musuem.

CFF announces partnership with Australian Indigenous Education Foundation

CFF’s in-depth research on Indigenous scholarship programs concluded that the Indigenous boarding school scholarship model, St Joseph’s College Indigenous Fund is the ‘best practice’ model, operated with good governance, accountability, transparency and low overhead costs. This program has been recognised by the Australian Government Productivity Commission as a leader in the field of Indigenous education. The St Joseph’s College Indigenous Fund was established by former corporate lawyer and investment banker Andrew Penfold. He has raised approximately $5 million to provide a scholarship fund supporting around 40 Indigenous boys at boarding school every year. Building on this success, Andrew Penfold has established a new foundation called the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation, as a tax-deductible non-profit foundation to provide the same outcomes for Indigenous girls. CFF is partnering with the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation to provide boarding school scholarships for Indigenous girls to enrol at high performing boarding schools and has initially committed to funding 4 scholarships; to be awarded to girls from Palm Island in December 2008.

Andrew Penfold, the CEO of the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation said: “We want to partner with people and organisation that are proven leaders in their field and expect the programs they invest in to be highly effective and results driven. Catherine Freeman is a role model for excellence in her field. Our partnership with the Catherine Freeman Foundation will help us to achieve our goal of supporting more Indigenous children to reach their potential, think big, and chase their dreams.”

Catherine Freeman commented: “I believe education is the the single most decisive factor in closing the 17 year gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. The pursuit of excellence has always been a personal mantra for me, so when the CFF investigated options to assist with scholarships for young Indigenous girls,our criteria was to work with others that have a proven track-record of excellence in their field. The Australian Indigenous Education Foundation fits that bill”.

Catherine Freeman Foundation – Summary of Goals 2008

The Catherine Freeman Foundation plans the following activities in Palm Island in 2008.

• Non – truancy bike program – 20 mountain bikes and helmets.
• Community Knowledge Centre – Catherine Freeman has donated a $6000 gift from Carnival
Australia to commence the project and Carnival is raising funds on board. Target $50,000.
• Collaboration with Cottage by the Sea to provide 12 children a 10 day aspirational holiday in
Queenscliff, Victoria.
• Collaboration with Australian Indigenous Education Foundation. 4 CFF scholarships to be
awarded to indigenous girls.