Funds fillip for education

giving

businessnews.com.au | December 7, 2015 | 23

COMMUNITYARTS SECTOR

Brightwater in new CEO searchTHE three-month search for Brightwater Care Group’s next chief executive continues, with the current head of the state’s seventh-largest aged care group, Penny Flett, due to step down early next year.

It’s understood Dr Flett, who has held the role for 20 years, will continue to be involved in Brightwater’s activities, as well as maintain an advocacy role for women in leadership.

According to BNiQ research, along with BaptistCare’s chief executive Lucy Morris, Regents Garden Group’s general manager Yvonne Ayre, and Mercy Health’s state man-ager Anita Ghose, Dr Flett is one of only four women who head up one of 20 of the biggest aged care organisations in Western Australia.

Hawaiian Ride for Youth winYOUTH Focus charity bicycling fundraiser, the Hawaiian Ride for Youth, has won the award for best charity or cause-related event at the Australian event awards.

Youth Focus chief executive Jenny Allen said the 700-kilometre bike ride from Albany to Perth raised $2.4 million last year and, since its inception in 2003, had raised more than $13 million to help Youth Focus continue to provide its free expert clinical services for young Western Australians. ,

Generosity has clean-up costsFOUR of Western Australia’s leading chari-ties have come together to try and save more than $300,000 in annual clean-up costs by launching an education campaign about how to correctly donate items at charitable collection bins.

Good Samaritan Industries, St Vincent de Paul Society WA, Anglicare WA and the Spine and Limb Foundation have set up the website GIV.org.au in an effort to reduce the $312,000 spent annually to clean up after people who leave items that are often dam-aged, vandalised or strewn outside charity bins and stores.

Spokesperson for the campaign, Good Samaritan Industries’ Debbie Cameron, said the website had helpful information for people to become better informed as to what standard of goods charities would accept and where, what and how items could be donated, including those too big to fit in charity bins.

“The vast majority of people who visit one of our donation stations and realise they can’t easily deposit their items in the bin think they are doing the right thing by leaving their donations outside,” Ms Cam-eron said.

“But in actual fact this causes huge head-aches for our organisations in the form of complaints from councils, shopping centres and the public, and by increasing antisocial behaviour.”

Business News understands only one person has been prosecuted in WA after being caught illegally dumping items at char-ity bins, since the Litter Act was introduced in 1979.

The offender was fined $600 plus $200 in court costs.

Fix needed for arts fundingTHE Chamber of Arts and Culture WA has identified what it calls is a ‘worry-ing trend’ within the state government of replacing long-term operational funding with short-term project fund-ing from multiple sources.

In its submission to the state govern-ment for the 2016-17 budget, chamber chair Helen Cook said 81 per cent of Western Australians attended at least one cultural event last year, and demand was growing.

However, she said without strategic and long-term targeted investment, the state risked losing the option to capital-ise on the capacity of these events to provide strong economic returns and diverse experiences for the community.

“We have a sector that contributes $10.6 billion to the state economy and employs over 42,000 people,” Ms Cook said.

“Yet in the absence of any long-term plan the investment in the culture and arts portfolio has been reduced to less than 1 per cent of the state govern-ment’s overall expenditure.”

Ms Cook said the arts and cultural sector offered the state a unique way to diversify its economy, develop greater innovation and build stronger communities.

“For example there is an unrealised potential in our indigenous arts; some-thing that is unique to this land. It’s time that we properly celebrated and acknowledged this creative wealth,” she said.

“What we’ve been able to achieve is much better school attendance,” she said.

“We found before, when we were working one day a week in the schools, that the kids all came on the day we visited … so obviously by being here more regularly we encourage the kids to come along.

“The behaviour of the kids has also improved. That’s happening for a number of reasons. By doing physical activity they’re building their mental health and wellbeing; they’re building their competence and their ability to stay seated and learn.

“They’re also learning how to behave every time they’re in our programs because they have to. And certainly the kids from the homework classes, the feedback we’re getting is they’re trying so much harder in classes, and they know what to do in order to learn more effectively.”

Ms Lisignoli said Nyoongar was working closely with the schools to maintain attend-ance levels by insisting students come every day or miss out on Nyoongar’s breakfast, lunch and after-school activities.

The charity, whose total annual revenue is now about $1.4 million, has continued to deliver its broader-based activities, which includes teaching ancient Aboriginal sport-ing games to corporate organisations as part of team-building exercises.

It also runs a competitive mini-basketball competition for older children at risk of breaking the law, works with Ruah Com-munity Services women’s shelters, and delivers school holiday programs in 19 regional towns.

“There are a lot of myths out there that the Aboriginal community doesn’t value educa-tion and we’ve clearly demonstrated that’s completely not true,” Ms Lisignoli said.

WORTHWHILE WORK: Nyoongar staff Misty Gray (left) and Sara Riches with some

of the young Aboriginal students Nyoongar Wellbeing and Sports works with.

A WESTERN Australian charity focused on improving the lives of Aboriginal children through exercise and nutrition programs has hired staff and increased the amount of work it’s doing in several schools, following a major funding increase.

Nyoongar Wellbeing and Sports, Aus-tralia’s only Aboriginal-controlled health promotion charity, recently received a near-100 per cent increase in its grant income from the Commonwealth, which has allowed it to grow its Aboriginal staff members by two, to eight.

There are a lot of

myths out there that the

Aboriginal community

doesn’t value education

and we’ve clearly

demonstrated that’s

completely not true

- Karyn Lisignoli

Making a

contribution to the

community is an

essential part of doing

business; I believe

we are a significantly

better organisation

because of it - David Flanagan

$855,000 Federal funding for Nyoongar Wellbeing and Sports

WA is home to Australia’s only Aboriginal-controlled

health promotion charity, and the unique operation has

secured additional federal funding.

Saskia Picklessaskia.pickles@businessnews.com.au

@FlyPickles

Despite record low iron ore prices taking the company to the brink, and reducing its share price from 70 cents in August 2014 to 2 cents in December, 93 per cent of Atlas’s community investments this year were cash donations.

While the index does not disclose the total value of corporate donations, Mr Flanagan said more than a dozen community groups had received Helping Hands grants of up to $5,000 in 2015.

“Making a contribution to the community is an essential part of doing business,” he said.

“I believe we are a significantly better organisation because of it.”

Chief executive Karyn Lisignoli told Busi-ness News that, as part of requirements involved in accepting the boost in federal funding from $450,000 per year to $855,000, the charity had agreed to focus its activities more intensely on fewer schools.

It now visits six primary schools most days of the week, and Ms Lisignoli said teachers were reporting improved behaviour.