Greater Charitable Foundation has committed more than one million dollars in funding to six charity partners as part of its 2019 grant round, bringing the Foundation’s total contribution to community groups to more than nine million since its establishment in 2011.
The Foundation has maintained its strong links to the Hunter, with more than a third of this year’s funding going to organisations that will rollout programs across the region, including Ronald McDonald House Charities Northern NSW, Cerebral Palsy Alliance, Youth Off The Streets, Clontarf Foundation and KidsXpress.
Ronald McDonald House, based on the grounds of John Hunter Children’s Hospital, provides accommodation and support for families of children who have been diagnosed with a serious illness.
Funding from Greater Charitable Foundation will allow them to facilitate the Ronald McDonald Learning Program that helps children with a serious illness return to school by providing them with individualised educational support tailored to suit their specific needs.
Ross Bingham, Ronald McDonald House Charities Northern NSW Chief Executive Officer, said that serious illness can have a lifelong impact on a child’s education and future wellbeing if no intervention is provided.
“Currently, there are serious gaps in the education system when it comes to supporting children living with chronic illness or injury, and they can very easily fall further behind, or even cease attending school altogether,” Ross said.
“The Learning Program is a life-changing initiative which benefits students and their families by providing students the support and advocacy they need to succeed, now and into the future.
“The program is based here in the Hunter but supports families from across Northern NSW. It is tailored to the specific needs of each child by providing tuition support, education liaision with their school, as well as a range of educational activities at the house.
The funding from the Greater Charitable Foundation will ensure that up to two hundred students will receive support through the Learning Program over the next two years.
A total of six grant recipients were selected, including both new and previously funded partners, each receiving between $33,000 and $260,000 to deliver crucial services to those in need across the Hunter, North Coast, Northern Rivers, Illawarra, Central Coast, Central West, New England and the Riverina region. .
Greater Charitable Foundation Chief Executive Officer, Anne Long, said the Foundation, now in its eighth year of giving, is delighted with the calibre of organisations and programs they will be supporting over the next twelve months and is looking forward to the positive impact they will have on their respective communities.
“The response to this year’s grants program was unprecedented, with almost two hundred and thirty applications being submitted; more than any other year,” Anne said.
“The shortlisting and assessment process was not easy given the quality of submissions, but we are extremely happy with the organisations we have chosen to partner with this year.
“Through this year’s funding program, we were able to support a broad range of partners across our area of operation; however, we have maintained strong links to the Hunter through the allocation of almost $400,000 to groups in the region. This takes our total funding allocation in the Hunter since 2011 to more than $4.6 million,” she said.
The Foundation’s six new partners will join the ranks of five existing charities who remain under contract to deliver prevention and support programs across the areas of health, youth development, education and medical research.
Other charity partners for 2019 include the Cerebral Palsy Alliance (Newcastle, East Maitland, Central Coast, Ballina, Orange, Dubbo and Wagga Wagga), The Early Response Therapy Program for Babies at Risk of Cerebral Palsy in NSW and the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation (Taree).
More information about the Greater Bank’s 2019 partners can be found on their website.
IMAGE | Ronald McDonald House Northern NSW Education Coordinator, Dayle Cummings and Ruby Clarke with Chief Executive Officer Ross Bingham and Anne Long– Ronald McDonald House Charities Northern NSW. (left-right)