The Podmore Foundation, an Australian non-profit organization, awarded scholarships to seven Indigenous students from rural and remote communities to help cover boarding school costs at Canberra Girls Grammar School. The scholarships were presented by Mick Dodson to help close the educational gap. The foundation was started by graduates who wanted to provide opportunities to disadvantaged youth, and partners with Yalari to support Indigenous children through secondary boarding school education.

1. news
Fortunate graduates
‘returning opportunity’
anberra-based not-for-profit
organisation, The Podmore
Foundation, has awarded
scholarships to seven young
Indigenous students who board at
Canberra Girls Grammar School
(CGGS) to help close the gap in
educational support.
The girls have travelled from
rural and remote communities
across Australia as a part of The
Podmore Foundation campaign and
on 15 March they were presented
the scholarships by Mick Dodson,
2009 Indigenous Australian of the
Year. The scholarships help cover
the significant financial gap between
the means-tested ABSTUDY scheme
and student fees and costs at
independent boarding schools.
Bob Breen, one of the founders
of The Podmore Foundation, says
Seven Yalari scholarship recipients have travelled from across Australia
to receive secondary education at Canberra Girls Grammar School.
it’s a very powerful feeling to offer
an opportunity to Indigenous
students to further their studies.
“We were a group of Duntroon
graduates and in 2007 we all
remarked upon how fortunate we
were to receive an education at
Duntroon. Eventually we found
out that many of us shared similar
backgrounds such as single
parents raising us, our families
were immigrants to this country
or we were the very first in our
family to even go to university. We
decided to look to philanthropy
and form a foundation with the
motto ‘Returning Opportunity’
with the idea of creating
educational opportunities for
young people,” he says.
Mr Breen says the Podmore
Foundation approached Yalari,
a not-for-profit organisation that
offers quality, secondary education
scholarships at Australia’s leading
boarding schools for Indigenous
children from remote, rural and
regional communities.
“Seven Yalari scholarship
recipients are boarding at CGGS
and one boy is boarding at Sydney’s
St Ignatius’ College. We provide
$5,500 per annum to each recipient
to assist Yalari with their school
fees, as well as coordinating
mentors, tutors and supporting
their vocational aspirations.
“I’ve come to conclude Yalari do
a terrific job selecting these kids and
creating the right relationship with
support from home and school to
make the transition. The students
certainly exceed expectations and
it’s one of the great pleasures to see
how well they do.”
For more information visit
podmorefoundation.org
- Madeline Power
PhotoPeterBreen
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