Annual Report
2021

The Founder
Welcome and Overview
Granting Strategy
Partnering for greater impact
Long-term partnerships
Supporting capacity building
Scaling up proven models
Resilience in regional Victoria
Addressing the challenge of mental health
Supporting local communities
Concise Financial Report 2020-21
Grants Paid
Team
Concise Financial Report 2020-21
Grants paid
The William Buckland Foundation team
The Trustees and William Buckland Foundation team acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands we live and work on across Victoria. William Buckland was born on the lands of the Taungurung People, the Traditional Custodians of Mansfield and we pay special respect to the Elders past, present and emerging.

The William Buckland Foundation seeks to improve the lives of disadvantaged Victorians through grants that support better housing, health, education and employment outcomes. We also fund initiatives that build resilience in rural and regional communities.

Total grants paid
$4,819,780
Since its establishment in 1965, the Foundation has
distributed in excess of $129m for Victorians.

“to benefit a
wonderful country
and a wonderful
people, Australia and
Australians.”

The Founder

The Foundation which bears his name commemorates William Buckland, a highly successful businessman and pastoralist in the middle years of the 20th century.

On his death in 1964, William Buckland left the bulk of his large estate, £925,000, to establish a Foundation. The income was to be used “to benefit a wonderful country and a wonderful people. Australia and Australians”. A copy of his biography, William Lionel Buckland by David T. Merrett is available from Equity Trustees or public libraries.

Welcome and overview

Dr Jane Gilmour, Chair

Ferdi Hepworth, William Buckland
Foundation Lead, Equity Trustees

This year has also brought further challenges to the sustainability of our communities. The Sixth Assessment Report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was released in August 2021, carried dire warnings about climate change, finding that, unless there are immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, limiting warming to 1.5°C or even 2°C will be beyond reach. The implications for Australia, for our environment and particularly for our regional and rural communities are serious. Establishing resilience in our agriculture sector and reducing our carbon footprint will require innovative and sustained responses as a country. Through our continuing support for educational and community- based initiatives, such as through our support for the Nuffield scholars program and for on-ground sustainable farming programs, we seek to support the transitions necessary for this sector.

We are paying greater attention to the opportunity for investing more of our corpus in mission-led social ventures and in mission-aligned investments. We congratulate Hire-Up on the successful partnership negotiated with Seek, which has significantly increased their capital and thus their ability to grow their platform and the services they deliver to people with disabilities. We were proud to have been early investors in this social enterprise and look forward to watching their growth over the coming years.

Our current team of Trustees has been working together now for two years and over that time we have undertaken a number of initiatives to strengthen the work of the Foundation, including approving a governance charter, instituting a process of performance review and establishing a formal succession planning process. We have established a Risk and Audit committee and begun work on our our five-year strategic review, which will be completed in 2022.

This year has seen some staff changes within the Equity Trustees team. We farewelled Jeff Sitters who retired and welcomed Amanda Sartor as Senior Relationship Manager. Elyse Cook has been promoted to Granting and Impact Manager and Ferdi Hepworth’s role has been recognised as Foundation Lead. We thank Jeff for his many years of service and welcome Amanda, Elyse and Ferdi to their new roles.

All the Trustees continue to dedicate their considerable talent and expertise to the Foundation and it has been a pleasure to work with Ross Barker, Jenny McGregor, David Williamson and Jodi Kennedy (representing Equity Trustees), as well as with the wider team over the past twelve months. It is indeed a privilege to honour William Buckland’s legacy in support of Victoria’s vibrant and critically important charitable sector.

Welcome and overview

Dr Jane Gilmour, Chair

Ferdi Hepworth, William Buckland
Foundation Lead, Equity Trustees

This year has also brought further challenges to the sustainability of our communities. The Sixth Assessment Report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was released in August 2021, carried dire warnings about climate change, finding that, unless there are immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, limiting warming to 1.5°C or even 2°C will be beyond reach. The implications for Australia, for our environment and particularly for our regional and rural communities are serious. Establishing resilience in our agriculture sector and reducing our carbon footprint will require innovative and sustained responses as a country. Through our continuing support for educational and community- based initiatives, such as through our support for the Nuffield scholars program and for on-ground sustainable farming programs, we seek to support the transitions necessary for this sector.

We are paying greater attention to the opportunity for investing more of our corpus in mission-led social ventures and in mission-aligned investments. We congratulate Hire-Up on the successful partnership negotiated with Seek, which has significantly increased their capital and thus their ability to grow their platform and the services they deliver to people with disabilities. We were proud to have been early investors in this social enterprise and look forward to watching their growth over the coming years.

Our current team of Trustees has been working together now for three years and over that time we have undertaken a number of initiatives to strengthen the work of the Foundation, including approving a governance charter, instituting a process of performance review and establishing a formal succession planning process. We have established a Risk and Audit committee and begun work on our our five-year strategic review, which will be completed in 2022.

This year has seen some staff changes within the Equity Trustees team. We farewelled Jeff Sitters who retired and welcomed Amanda Sartor as Senior Relationship Manager. Elyse Cook has been promoted to Granting and Impact Manager and Ferdi Hepworth’s role has been recognised as Foundation Lead. We thank Jeff for his many years of service and welcome Amanda, Elyse and Ferdi to their new roles.

All the Trustees continue to dedicate their considerable talent and expertise to the Foundation and it has been a pleasure to work with Ross Barker, Jenny McGregor, David Williamson and Jodi Kennedy (representing Equity Trustees), as well as with the wider team over the past twelve months. It is indeed a privilege to honour William Buckland’s legacy in support of Victoria’s vibrant and critically important charitable sector.

This is the second year this welcome to our Annual Report is being written in lockdown. This year, the Delta strain of COVID-19 is presenting significantly increased challenges to public health experts, as they work to ensure that our health system will not be overwhelmed. We express our thanks to all those frontline workers who provide critical care and services to people in need over this long period.

We also think of those many people in our communities whose lives have been made so much more difficult this year by the pandemic, particularly the young people for whom the social isolation has been so challenging. Their mental well-being is under increasing pressure, and demands on mental health support are growing exponentially. Women too are suffering from increased financial insecurity and risk of domestic violence. Refugees and asylum seekers face greater uncertainty. Charities and not-for-profit organisations continue to manage complex financial challenges, as does business both large and small.

Our response this year, as it was last year, has been to focus our efforts on existing grant partners. With reduced income and pre-existing commitments, we have not been in a position to accept new applications.

Welcome and overview

Dr Jane Gilmour, Chair

Ferdi Hepworth, William Buckland
Foundation Lead, Equity Trustees

This year has also brought further challenges to the sustainability of our communities. The Sixth Assessment Report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was released in August 2021, carried dire warnings about climate change, finding that, unless there are immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, limiting warming to 1.5°C or even 2°C will be beyond reach. The implications for Australia, for our environment and particularly for our regional and rural communities are serious. Establishing resilience in our agriculture sector and reducing our carbon footprint will require innovative and sustained responses as a country. Through our continuing support for educational and community- based initiatives, such as through our support for the Nuffield scholars program and for on-ground sustainable farming programs, we seek to support the transitions necessary for this sector.

We are paying greater attention to the opportunity for investing more of our corpus in mission-led social ventures and in mission-aligned investments. We congratulate Hire-Up on the successful partnership negotiated with Seek, which has significantly increased their capital and thus their ability to grow their platform and the services they deliver to people with disabilities. We were proud to have been early investors in this social enterprise and look forward to watching their growth over the coming years.

Our current team of Trustees has been working together now for two years and over that time we have undertaken a number of initiatives to strengthen the work of the Foundation, including approving a governance charter, instituting a process of performance review and establishing a formal succession planning process. We have established a Risk and Audit committee and begun work on our our five-year strategic review, which will be completed in 2022.

This year has seen some staff changes within the Equity Trustees team. We farewelled Jeff Sitters who retired and welcomed Amanda Sartor as Senior Relationship Manager. Elyse Cook has been promoted to Granting and Impact Manager and Ferdi Hepworth’s role has been recognised as Foundation Lead. We thank Jeff for his many years of service and welcome Amanda, Elyse and Ferdi to their new roles.

All the Trustees continue to dedicate their considerable talent and expertise to the Foundation and it has been a pleasure to work with Ross Barker, Jenny McGregor, David Williamson and Jodi Kennedy (representing Equity Trustees), as well as with the wider team over the past twelve months. It is indeed a privilege to honour William Buckland’s legacy in support of Victoria’s vibrant and critically important charitable sector.

Granting strategy

The wishes of William Buckland, as expressed in his Will, underpin our strategy as we continue to adapt our funding practices, thinking and approach. The Foundation is now in the final year of the current five-year strategy, which targets our funding across four areas:

  • Strengthening resilience in agricultural communities,
  • Improving educational outcomes for disadvantaged children,
  • Supporting vulnerable Victorians into appropriate employment and safe and secure housing,
  • Improving health outcomes for young people, particularly in rural and regional communities.

Read more

We work to deepen our understanding, engage with our grantees and collaborate with other philanthropic funders to overcome the causes of social and economic disadvantage. We continue to focus our grant making on innovative solutions to complex problems and to amplify the reach of these projects where appropriate.

Our support is balanced between meeting the immediate and basic needs of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable in the community, and more strategic long- term investments.

The WilliamBuckland Foundation is focused on improving the lives of vulnerable Victorians through grants that support better housing, health, education and employment outcomes and initiatives that build resilience and strengthen rural and regional communities.

Advancing
Agriculture

Focus: Strengthening
the resilience & capacity
of regional & rural
communities

Improved
Health

Focus: Children
& young people,
rural and regional
communities

Enabling
Education

Focus: Improved
education outcomes
for disadvantaged &
vulnerable children

Vulnerable
Victorians

Focus: Housing &
employment

Collaborations
The Trustees select & invite organisations to develop & design collaborations in partnership with the Foundation. It does not accept open requests under this strategy.

Signature Grants
$250k-$750k → Moving towards catalytic leadership type grants

Open Large Grants
$50k-$150k per annum x 1-4 years

Small Grants Partnership
FRRR & Igniting Change

Trustee Grants
Small grants allocated at Trustees’ discretion

Flooded Barmah Forest River Gums, Victoria (Willem van Aken, 1989)

Partnering
for greater
impact

Helping Australia meet its present
and future water and catchment
management challenges...

Partnering
for greater
impact

Helping Australia meet its present
and future water and catchment
management challenges...

Watertrust Australia Ltd

When resources are constrained, and need is greater than ever, the Foundation believes it is important to work together with others on issues that we are committed to. The ways we work together can vary; sometimes this looks like coordinating a collaborative network, co-designing a project or co-funding initiatives that others have developed.

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With our focus on rural and regional sustainability in Victoria, we recognise the importance of access to water as an issue that affects many of our grant partners. This is why the Trustees of the William Buckland Foundation have chosen to support this important initiative. In an increasingly dry environment due to the impacts of climate change, growing demand from population growth and the degradation of natural assets, equity of water access is an issue that needs urgent attention.

Watertrust Australia Ltd is a new, independent national policy centre with a mission to improve the way decisions are made about Australia’s inland waters and catchments. The purpose of the centre is to promote informed, independently convened and trusted deliberation and debate on public policy in order to advance the sustainable use of Australia’s inland waters and catchments for the benefit of all Australians.

Currently incubated at the Australian Academy of Science, the ten-year multi-party collaboration will address the challenge of managing scarce water resources in Australia. Watertrust Australia is supported by a coalition of 16 of Australia’s leading philanthropic funders and is independent of governments and specific interests. The independence provided by philanthropic support will be critical in supporting Watertrust Australia’s work on better decision makings. The William Buckland Foundation has committed $150,000 per annum over four years, with a further $400,000 pledged for the second half of the project, dependent on progress.

Kathryn Fagg AO has been appointed as the inaugural chair, and Nick Austin as CEO. Funder-representative directors Martyn Myer AO (Myer Foundation) and Craig Connelly (The Ian Potter Foundation) are joined by six independent directors. It is expected that Watertrust Australia’s first projects will launch in early- to mid-2022.

“Debates over the use and management of Australia’s waters and catchments are becoming increasingly difficult. Australia needs an honest broker with independent convening power to help rebuild trust and find common ground on water and catchment policy. The independence provided by multi-year funding from a coalition of philanthropic partners allows Watertrust Australia to fulfil this role and help Australia meet its present and future water and catchment management challenges by improving the way policy decisions are made.”

Kathryn Fagg AO, Chair, Watertrust Australia Ltd (Australian Academy of Science)

MITS Frydenberg Funding Announcement, 2021 (Casey)
MITS Frydenberg Funding Announcement, 2021 (Casey)

Long-term
partnerships

Ensuring Indigenous
Victorian’s are able to access
outstanding education
opportunities.

Long-term
partnerships

Ensuring Indigenous
Victorian’s are able to access
outstanding education
opportunities.

Melbourne Indigenous
Transition School (MITS)

We all know that there are no short-cuts or silver bullet solutions to ending entrenched disadvantage, which is why, when possible, we work for long periods of time with a number of the organisations we support. One such partnership, now finishing its sixth year, is with MITS.

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The MITS model supports the successful and confident transition of Indigenous students from home communities to mainstream classrooms. Through a transitional, highly supported year 7 that celebrates and strengthens culture, MITS provides the steppingstone that allows Indigenous students access to mainstream classrooms in high-performing schools for the remainder of their high school years.

The Foundation began funding MITS back in 2015 with a five-year, $600,000 grant to supporting Koorie Victorians who were interested in attending the boarding school for year 7. This approach sought to expand their model, which until then had primarily focussed on students from the Northern Territory.

Five years is a long time for any grant, and after three years it was obvious that things had evolved and there needed to be some changes. We were happy to work with MITS to revise the deliverables of this grant to reduce the number of students from Victoria to be supported in each year, and provide continued mentoring support beyond the first year as well as the possibility of continued residence at MITS post-Year 7 as required.

Long-term partnerships require trust on both sides; partnering with organisations means we are backing their strategy, their knowledge of the needs of the cohort they are supporting and their capacity to deliver the best outcomes possible. The Foundation welcomed the adaptions proposed by MITS, so that they could better meet the needs of Victorian Indigenous students.

This year MITS has experienced more applicant interest from Victorian students than ever before, including from new regions such as Warrnambool and Mildura and by 2023, up to 100 students will be living together and attending great Melbourne schools each day.

When I first got elected MITS Captain, I knew that challenges had to be accepted. It does take a lot of hard work to be a leader. I believe my job is to make others feel comfortable and safe. I hope that so far I have made my family proud.

Lailani, MITS student

Munzer
Shamslya

Supporting
capacity
building

Supporting young people from refugee
backgrounds to pursue
their dreams.

Supporting
capacity
building

Supporting young people from refugee
backgrounds to pursue
their dreams.

CareerSeekers

CareerSeekers New Australian Internship Program was established in 2015 to support people from a refugee or asylum seeker background to access paid internships and provide pathways into professional employment. The university student stream of the CareerSeekers program replicates the successful CareerTrackers model, which has supported more than one thousand Indigenous graduates over ten years.

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The William Buckland Foundation sought to support Careerseekers in its efforts to address the unemployment and underemployment of young people from an asylum seeker or refugee background. The grant of $100,000 over two years approved in 2019, aimed to support 100 refugee or asylum seeker university students into paid internships over the period. Through these internships, young people would develop more than their skills and expertise, they would also grow social connection and capital, thereby increasing their employability and assisting them to gain graduate employment that was aligned to their career ambitions.

The Foundation was attracted to this grant for a number of reasons. Firstly, we recognised that while this cohort of young people represents some of the most vulnerable within our community, they have so much to contribute to our multicultural society. We were impressed with the strategic vision of CareerSeekers, anchored in dignity and collaboration, while also responding to the needs of corporate Australia for an increasingly diverse, globally-aware workforce. Finally, we were supportive of CareerSeekers aspiration to implement a financially sustainable model.

The Foundation recognises that Philanthropy has a role to play in supporting developing social enterprises as they evolve and grow into fully financially sustainable organisations. This process takes time and is not easy, particularly in the context of a global pandemic. Investing in capacity-building can help organisations address the challenges of embedding a new program or adapting an existing model, in order for them to be better able to deliver on their mission.

Participants in the university student stream of our program face significant challenges to successfully complete their university studies, transition to professional employment and achieve career success. Our program is designed to support young people from a refugee background to pursue their dreams and reach their full potential, transforming individuals, families and communities in the process. This kind of multi-year philanthropic support enables us to focus our time and energy where it matters most – enhancing program delivery and driving our impact.

John Gelagin, Chief Executive, CareerSeekers

The enterprising Hands on Learning team at Elisabeth Murdoch College upcycle pallet timber into planter boxes. Each student built one side at home in isolation and together installed them across the school.
Occupational health and safety is front and centre in Hands on Learning, and especially at Mount Evelyn Primary School.

Scaling up
proven
models

Supporting students at risk of
disengagement to grow key social
and emotional skills.

Scaling up
proven
models

Supporting students at risk of
disengagement to grow key social
and emotional skills.

Hands on Learning

Hands on Learning creates opportunities at school for young people to discover their talents and experience success. This simple approach, that brings together disengaged young people one day per week and engages them through practical projects such as building a pizza oven, building playground furniture or preparing a meal. The approach is highly effective because disengaged students remain connected to their school community, receive consistent support and feel a greater sense of belonging.

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The William Buckland Foundation’s commitment to young people is demonstrated through support of the Hands on Learning program, with over $1 million of grant funding provided to them since June 2016. This grant is one of 19 in the Enabling Education grant portfolio, where the Foundation supports initiatives focussed on improving educational attainment, particularly for young Victorians experiencing disadvantage.

The model has been proven to be effective; a 2012 Deloitte Access Economics Study found the approach provided $12 to $1 return on economic investment through reduced welfare payments and increased employment outcomes. Hands on Learning has been recognised by global education non-profit HundrED, as one of 100 most inspiring K-12 innovations across the world.

Hands on Learning Australia merged with Save the Children Australia in 2017 to leverage their footprint and scale Hands on Learning’s success. Save the Children is the world’s leading independent organisation for children, giving them a powerful voice and championing their rights. Save the Children programming in Australia benefits more than 31,000 Australian children/adults across almost 100 programs.

The growth of the program over the past six years has been impressive, they were working in 60 Victorian schools back in 2016 and are partnering with 99 schools in 2021. The Foundation has been particularly pleased to see Hands on Learning’s work at schools in communities we are engaged in such as Benalla.

Efficiencies have been achieved through the merger, with Save the Children adding backbone and advocacy expertise to Hands on Learning’s demonstrated ability to deliver quality programming on the ground.

In this highly competitive and resource-constrained market, NGO mergers, acquisitions and collaboration can consolidate greater efficiency and expertise, and increase the number of beneficiaries. Our merge with Hands on Learning four years ago has increased the number of implementations since 2017 by more than 60 per cent. This broader reach is a win for children as it increases our capacity to help more schools to support more students at risk of disengagement to grow the key social and emotional skills for success in learning, education and employment.

Paul Ronalds, Chief Executive Officer, Save the Children Australia

Resilience
in regional
Victoria

Taking students’ ideas
and aspirations beyond
the classroom.

Resilience
in regional
Victoria

Taking students’ ideas
and aspirations beyond
the classroom.

HarvestEd

The Foundation supports projects that seek to strengthen regional Victorian communities, looking at the challenges of sustainable food production and building resilience through regenerative activities.

The HarvestEd project, designed by Asia Education Foundation (AEF) currently being piloted in the greater Geelong region, is skilling up the new generation to respond to the future needs of the agriculture sector in an increasingly competitive global market.

This program is run over three terms, connecting a diverse group of young people from years 8-12. These immersive workshops and webinars focus on both opportunities and challenges to the local and global agricultural sector. Students learn through four key phases:

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Future Farming: Participants look at the past, present and future of agriculture in Geelong, Australia and the Asia region. The focus is on agricultural trends and predictions, including new technologies and innovations.

Connecting Communities: Participants examine Geelong’s connection to the world, including its biggest agricultural imports and exports and trading partners, particularly those in the Asia region.

Seeding Change: Participants identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that exist in the agricultural industry. They explore big questions such as: ‘By 2050 we’ll need to feed two billion more people. How can we do that without overwhelming the planet?’

Harvesting Potential: Using design thinking, participants prototype solutions to challenges, such as population growth, scarcity of natural resources, climate change, food security and wastage, all helping to make better sense of our interdependent world by fostering awareness and action on global citizenship.

The William Buckland Foundation’s seed funding provided $218,000 to support the first two years of the pilot. The effects of the global pandemic continue to be felt by our charity partners and the communities we support. Like many others, particularly in the education space, the pandemic has had a significant impact on the roll out of programs in schools. However, opportunity has also arisen out of this disruption.

Despite the challenges, HarvestEd has been working with five secondary schools across Greater Geelong, with over 60% of students coming from lower ICSEA schools. Further learnings and modifications by AEF also led to a version of HarvestEd being picked up by the Queensland Department of Education for a cluster of their regional and remote schools.

The multi-year support from WBF for HarvestEd strengthens these community networks and partnerships and helps take students’ ideas and aspirations beyond the classroom.

Hamish Curry, Executive Director, Asia Education Foundation

Addressing the
challenge of
mental health

Reducing the impact
of mental ill-health on
young people.

Young people co-designing #chatsafe resources for parents and carers

Addressing the
challenge of
mental health

Reducing the impact
of mental ill-health on
young people.

Orygen

Mental ill-health affects many in our community and the Foundation continues to direct efforts towards organisations working to see better outcomes for young people experiencing complex mental health issues.

The William Buckland Foundation has been a supporter of Orygen since 2017, granting $450,000 in that time to their suicide prevention work and a further $150,000 to the Australians for Mental Health alliance.

Continue reading

Sadly, suicide prevention for young people has become even more critical in light of the pandemic. Orygen has been unable to deliver face-to-face training programs due to the pandemic, however they have been able to transition some of this work to online delivery methods such as in the examples below.

To date, over 120 parents of young people have completed the gatekeeper training program and evaluation is underway to understand whether completion of the training increased their confidence, knowledge and communication skills in relation to suicide. This program will continue to be offered to parents of secondary school students across the region.

The Coping with Self Harm resource has been downloaded from Orygen’s website over 7,500 times and Orygen has distributed over 10,000 hard copies of the resource to youth services, hospitals and schools across the country.

Orygen continues to work to establish novel treatment pathways and innovative clinical care solutions in line with international best practice and research evidence. This is work that is now more urgent than ever as the continuing effects of pandemic isolation, unemployment and mental ill-health impact disproportionally our young people.

The support of the Foundation has been key to advancing Orygen’s strategy of reducing the impact of mental ill-health on young people and enabled us to build a comprehensive research program focused on suicide prevention research. Multi-year funding, such as that provided by the Foundation, is invaluable in ensuring stability, sustainability, and the ability to invest in the emerging generation of suicide prevention researchers.

Professor Patrick McGorry AO, Executive Director, Orygen

Supporting
local
communities

Helping refugees and
migrants gain skills and
feel a sense of belonging.

Verena (Free to Feed Cooking Instructors
and Leadership Program Participants)
The Social Studio student Marta.
Photo credit: Dewi Cooke

Supporting
local
communities

Helping refugees and
migrants gain skills and
feel a sense of belonging.

Free to Feed and
The Social Studio

Through the Foundation’s goal of improving the lives of disadvantaged Victorians we fund a number of organisations doing critical work to support members of our community with a refugee or asylum seeker background. We are pleased to profile two such organisations: Free to Feed and The Social Studio.

Free to Feed is a social enterprise creating life-empowering training and employment opportunities for refugees and people seeking asylum, through the creation of shared food experiences. Since 2018, we have provided $576,000 to assist this organisation, which has recently moved to new premises in North Fitzroy, providing both catering and on-site hospitality services.

Continue reading

Another social enterprise, The Social Studio, uses fashion and creativity as a cultural connector to create work and learning opportunities for Melbourne’s refugee and new migrant communities. Since 2019 we have supported their work establishing their new Heidelberg West site with a grant of $240,000 and are pleased to see them go from strength to strength with more than 30 young people engaged, trained and employed over that time.

Each of these projects uses a different approach to engage their participants. However at the heart of both enterprises is a belief in the rights of all individuals to dignity and respect. By providing opportunities and wrap-around, customised support they allow human dignity, innovation and creativity to flourish.

We know that finding employment is one of the key priorities for people from refugee and new migrant backgrounds on their settlement journey in Australia, but that they can face significant barriers when trying to do so. Supporting initiatives like ours at The Social Studio, which provides free training and work opportunities in the creative industries to refugee and migrant young people, is crucial not only for the skills and confidence we help our students develop but also for the sense of community and belonging we foster together.

Dewi Cooke, CEO, The Social Studio

The multi-year partnership with William Buckland Foundation has been a game-changer for Free to Feed. First and foremost to have a funding partner that imbues trust and rallies behind the mission has given us the opportunity to flourish over the past three years. The impacts of COVID-19 highlight the immense value of this ongoing partnership in recognising the dynamic times and unique challenges for social enterprise. Through very uncertain times, we have been able to offer certainty and predictability to our program participants, many of whom have been hardest hit by the pandemic. The William Buckland Foundation’s support has enabled Free to Feed to counterbalance unpredictable market fluctuations and provide certainty to those that need it most, ensuring that at every touchpoint our program participants feel secure and empowered.

Loretta Bolotin, CEO & Co Founder, Free to Feed

The William
Buckland
Foundation

$0Improved Health
$0Advancing Agriculture
$0Trustees Discretion
$0Partnership Program
$0Enabling education
Total
$0
$0Vulnerable Victorians
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