I acknowledge and pay respect to the land and the traditional families of the Yugambeh region of South East Queensland, including the Kombumerri, Mununjali, Wangerriburra and others, and their Elders past present and emerging.
We achieve Our Mission by offering grants to Australian children with a disability, so that they have an opportunity to play and participate in sport.
It's been a year of re-integration for many of us coming out of COVID, as life begins to return to what we had prior to the pandemic. This has included being back in our workplace, our schools and our sporting clubs. Still there were hurdles to overcome at the beginning of 2022, with the bushfires in parts of our country in January followed by floods in March which were devastating for many regions. It has also been a continual process of readjustment as there are many new ways we do things including more virtual services and interactions online. There is no doubt human connection and connection through our communities and sporting club is as at an all important high. Our young Australians have shown great adversity over these last three years, and it is a relief for many of us, and parents, schools and clubs to see them being able to access their sport, socialise with friends and enjoy events. Thanks to the hard work of our grassroot volunteers who have kept their clubs afloat and returned to almost normal levels of competition this year. Sporting clubs are the backbone to many of our recipients social development and lifelong interpersonal and sport literacy skills.
This year I had a number of speaking engagements and events to attend, and two I wanted to mention here. One was with Little Athletics NSW annual conference. A conference that had been postponed for two years running. A familiar story to all of us. To be there among the 120 plus Presidents, Treasurers, Officials and CEO's was truly a wonderful occasion. It was the simplicity of gathering, sharing ideas and talking about how we wanted to improve access to sport for all that really rejuvenated and lifted all of us. The commitment of Little Athletics NSW and Little Athletics Australia to providing an inclusive sport is evident in the number of applications we receive each year of young Australians with disability enjoying the sport of Athletics.
The second event was Casino Fun Run, whom was awarded a Sport Access Foundation grant to improve participation of young indigenous children and teenagers, particularly girls and secondly to ensure a fun run that is accessible and inclusive for all. This town located on the Northern Rives of NSW, has survived both bushfires and floods in recent times and also the impact of COVID. To attend the launch with the local mayor and sponsors, and all the volunteers, had everyone joyful and excited. After a two year absence, the Fun Run was back and you could sense that the community was finding itself again.
Thanks to the support of BlueScope we were able to continue to provide our annual sporting grants program. We have now identified that our key four segments are for children 7-12 years who need a KickStart, 13-17 years who are on the sporting journey and need to overcome barriers such as equipment to participate, our Sporting Clubs who need extra investment for their inclusion programs and our marquee grant - Pathway to Paralympics for those at the top of their sport aged 13-17 years.
This year we also witnessed many of our major sporting events also returning to full competition and engagement. The highlight for many was the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Many would know the Commonwealth Games is an integrated event with a select number of para-sporting events included in the schedule, following on from the successful establishment of this integration from the Gold Coast Games in 2018. Congratulations to our 2017 Honour Roll Member Col Pearse who won a gold medal in swimming (butterfly) at his debut Games, and also Kiera Stephens 2020 Honour Roll who won bronze in swimming (breaststroke). It was also wonderful to witness Jamieson Leeson, 2020 Honour Roll, win her first world championship medal in Boccia, in Rio. Many other recipients have continued to excel and win at Nationals and State Championships and we congratulate all of you. We are also thrilled to follow and read on all recipients who are continuing on with their sports and enjoying regular participation.
BlueScope our founding partner provides significant resources for the foundation to develop and cement its position as a leading children’s sporting charity in Australian sport.
We were thrilled to have renewed our contract with BlueScope for a further three years, to 2025. Thank you to CEO Mark Vasella and the BlueScope board for your continual support. We are excited that a project that has been in development for the last two years in collaboration with our Agency Partner Tribal (DDB Group) and BlueScope's Australia business is well underway and look forward to sharing more of this in the near future.
As the grant naming rights, we were able to support the funding of the two $1,500 Compeat Performance Pathway to Paralympics Grants as well a nutrition package total value of each grant is $2,880 for 13 to 17 year olds who have started to achieve goals towards national or international competition.
This grant of $1,500 each was awarded to:
This grant was to support sporting clubs with the for new and upgraded equipment such as marquees, lights, accessible club room and restrooms, accessible technology for club digital, cost to implement programs specifically for children with a disability and / or education of club officials/coaches/volunteers on working with children with a disability.
This grant of $2,000 each was awarded to:
This grant of $1,000 each was awarded to:
This grant of $500 each was awarded to:
Thank you to all our applicants who applied in 2022, there were 120 and unfortunately we weren't able to award all. We are honoured to receive your applications and encourage you to apply again in 2023. Thank you to all the many of the parents and carers I speak to from the recipients and in the broader community for your commitment to improving the lives of not only your young child, but also the education and advocacy you do in your own way each day.
Finally, I would like to thank all our donors and supporters at large. Your support and donation makes a huge difference. We appreciate your support in advocating and sharing the work of Sport Access Foundation, and we look forward to building a bigger grant pool to ensure we can meet the needs of all young Australians to their participation in sport.
Your donation will go towards providing financial assistance and support to enable children with a disability to participate in sporting activities. Every dollar goes direct to the grant recipients to help with the cost of their sport, including modified equipment, carer costs, transport and fees.
