Matthew Rowe

Seven community not-for-profits have been selected for the 2014 Future2 Make the Difference! Grants, with $70,000 awarded to programs that will support young Australians who are socially and financially disadvantaged.

Making the announcement at the Future2 Gala Dinner at the Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) Professionals Congress in Sydney tonight, Future2 director/trustee Matthew Rowe said that it is increasingly difficult to determine who to award the grants to, given the amount of quality applications received.

“We received many exemplary applications, all deserving of support for the great work they do, often with meagre resources. It is immensely rewarding to see the impact of the grants on disadvantaged young Australians. We recognise the enormous challenge faced by not-for-profits – especially small community based ones – to fund their important work”, Mr Rowe said.

Make the Difference! Grants have been awarded for 8 years and this year a total of ninety grant applications were received from all over Australia, up from 68 in 2013. Each application had the support of a local financial planning professional. The first assessment of applications was carried out by FPA Chapter regional representatives with the help of FPA members.

For the first time, Future2 has awarded multi-year grants of up to $30,000 over three years, designed to give the recipients greater certainty of funding for longer-term programs. The demand for these grants was strong. Four multi-year grants were awarded to:

Women’s Health and Family Services, Northbridge WA, for an education and empowerment program for 12-15 year olds;

Palngun Wurnangat Association, Wadeye NT, for the Widening Horizons through work experience program for 18-25 year olds;

BackTrack Youth Works, Armidale NSW, for work experience and job readiness training in agriculture, aimed at young women aged 18 to 25 years; and

Bridge Builders, Lilydale VIC, for a leadership program including education and skills training for 12-25 year olds.

Palngun Wurnangat, BackTrack and Bridge Builders have each received Future2 grants in the past. The new grants acknowledge the quality of these programs and will assist the programs to build on past successes.

Short-term grants of up to $10,000 were awarded to:

Edmund Rice Camps, Metro Melbourne VIC, for a summer camp to engage through mentoring and experienceyoung girls aged 12-18 years;

Wirrpanda Foundation, Perth WA, for Deadly Brotha Boyz, for a fitness and mentoring program aimed at young male Aboriginal offenders, 12-18 years; and

Windeward Bound Trust, Hobart TAS, for a youth leadership challenge on board the Windeward Bound, linking young Tasmanians with newly settled refugees.

Future2 Make the Difference! Grants fund projects aimed at 12-25 year olds who may be financially disadvantaged, homeless, juvenile justice offenders, drug or alcohol dependent, disabled, Indigenous or disadvantaged in some other respect. Funded projects have been in the areas of financial literacy, skills training, work experience, community service and mentoring. Since Future2 was established in 2007, the foundation has granted $390,000 to 31 organisations across Australia.

Click here for more about 2014 grant recipients.

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A former Chair of the FPA and one of the leading lawyers to the financial services industry are in training to cycle 1250km from Bourke to Sydney (7-16 September 2011).  Their target is to raise $100,000 – funds that will give a second chance to some of Australia’s most disadvantaged young people.

Ray Griffin and Peter Bobbin are challenging other financial planners, their colleagues and friends, to join them on the 10-day ride, or a section of it, or to get together a team to compete in the Wheel Classic Prologue on 4 September in Sydney.

“The generosity of corporate sponsors has got our fundraising off to a great start”, said Peter Bobbin, Future2 trustee and Principal, Argyle Lawyers.  “Now we’re looking to the wider financial planning community to do their bit – either by cycling with us, or by sponsoring an individual cyclist or a team.”

All funds raised will go to Future2, the foundation of the Australian financial planning profession, whose grants program has gifted over $150,000 to charities and not for profit bodies working at the grassroots to transform young lives at risk through social exclusion and financial disadvantage.

The inaugural BT Future2 Wheel Classic in 2010 raised $88,000 through a combination of sponsorship, fundraising events and individual donations.

“We’re confident that there’s enough generosity of spirit out there to enable us to reach – and exceed – our target”, said Ray Griffin, a keen amateur cyclist and former Certified Financial Planner professional.

“I was inspired by my father, Jack, who followed the same route in 1955 on the Daily Telegraph-sponsored Bourke to Sydney tour”, Griffin added.  “Much of the road then was rough and untarred;  today the road conditions are very different and we face the added challenge of taking time out of busy lives to do something that’s going to be a force for good.”

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BT Future2 Wheel Classic 2011 – Options for cyclists

Wheel Classic Prologue

Morning of Sunday 4 September. Team- based  individual  time trials – approximately 2 km on a closed Sydney circuit

Bourke to Sydney

Wednesday 7 – Friday 16 September (1250 km)

Orange to Sydney

Monday 12 – Friday 16 September (503 km)

‘Executive Stage’, Orange to Cowra

Monday 12 September (103 km)

Home run’ executive leg

Friday 16 September (25 km +). Five  laps of Centennial Park and on to the finish line in Martin Place, Sydney

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Click to register for the ride, or support a rider

or click for more information about the BT Future2 Wheel Classic 2011

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Reproduced with the permission Reed Business Information

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The BT Future2 Wheel Classic is the initiative of Future2 founding trustees Ray Griffin and Peter Bobbin. Ray is a keen amateur cyclist and former award-winning financial planning professional. Peter Bobbin is a well known Sydney based tax lawyer to the financial services industry. The inaugural BT Future2 Wheel Classic in 2010 raised over $88,000 for Future2’s grant program, which supports charities giving a second chance to disadvantaged young Australians. The 1250 km ride follows the route taken in 1955 by Ray’s father, now aged 79, a member of the Speedwell team that took part in the Daily Telegraph-sponsored Bourke – Sydney Cycle Tour. In those days much of the road was rough and untarred.
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As well as fundraising, the objective of the ride is to create local, state-wide and national awareness of the great work that many financial planners do in their communities, giving practical help for the financially and socially disadvantaged. All of the money raised – through sponsorship, donations and fundraising events – will go to the Future2 Foundation.Cyclists who register to take part will be required to make a payment of $150 ($125 for shared room) per day to cover accommodation, meals and a contribution to insurance and support vehicle costs.As well as our Gold, Silver and Bronze partners, the BT Future2 Wheel Classic has been generously supported by other suppliers of goods and services. Special thanks to Toowards, for their help with our website; and to Money Management, our Media Partner, who are helping to promote the Classic online and in the magazine.

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Future2, the foundation of the Australian financial planning professionFuture2 was established in 2007 by a small group of passionate financial planners seeking to demonstrate the profession’s commitment to social responsibility. The foundation exists to support the financially under-privileged and to enable financial planners and associated stakeholders to give back to the community from which they draw their livelihoods. A key factor differentiating Future2 from other foundations is its strong link with financial planners who assist with project identification, fundraising and promoting the foundation’s work in the community.Now in it’s fifth year, Future2’s Make the Difference! Grants program has assisted diverse projects working with disadvantaged young Australians in Adelaide, Brisbane, Loddon Murray (VIC), Mackay, Mascot, Melbourne, Mildura, Orange and North Sydney. Click to the view the details

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Charities helping disadvantaged young Australians are invited to apply for grants of up to $10,000 from Future2, the foundation of the Australian financial planning profession.  Applications for the new round of Make the Difference! Grants, now in their fifth year, must be submitted by 2 August.

Future2 Chair Steve Helmich called on financial planners and advisers to support applications from local charitable organisations working with young people trapped in difficult financial and social circumstances.  “Your support can make the difference, resulting in a grant that gives hope for a better future to disadvantaged young Australians”, he said.

To date, 15 charities around Australia have benefitted from Future2 grants totaling over $150,000, bringing life-enhancing changes to the lives of young people.

Future2 Make the Difference! Grants focus on the under 25s who may be financially disadvantaged, homeless, juvenile justice offenders, drug or alcohol dependent, disabled or Indigenous.  Grants are awarded to projects and programs in the areas such as financial literacy, skills training, work experience, community service or mentoring.

“The grants seek to give money where it will have greatest impact.  We like to give grants to small community based charities whose work is likely to be saved, enabled or transformed by our grants”, Mr Helmich said.
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“Trustees will also hope to see active involvement by financial planning professionals in the work of the charity”, he added.
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The Make the Difference! Grant program is designed to encourage the involvement of financial planners in community projects, as well as to provide critical support to disadvantaged young Australians.   Financial planning professionals who are members of either the Financial Planning Association or the Association of Financial Advisers may support grant applications from charities in their local areas.
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Initial applications, supported by a financial planner, must be received by close of business on 2 August.  Future2 will invite the strongest applicants to submit a full proposal.  The trustees’ final decision will be announced on 17 November 2011.
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click to read grant guidelines
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Future2 is the foundation of the Australian financial planning profession.  It exists to support the financially under-privileged and to enable the profession and associated stakeholders to give back to the community from which they draw their livelihoods.
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Future2 grants 2007 – 2010

• QLD SearchLight’s Brisbane community project at Southside Education, to build the financial and life skills of girls who are alienated from their families and mainstream education (2007)
• VIC Access Mildura’s new retail training facility to expand the employment opportunities of disabled and under privileged youth in Sunraysia (2007)
• SA  Anglicare’s Nile United Youth Group project for young Sudanese refugees at the Magdalene Centre in Adelaide, to assist their integration into Australian life through life skills and financial education (two grants: 2007 and 2008)
• VIC Whitelion’s mentoring program for young offenders and those at risk of custody; Whitelion also provides employment and outreach opportunities in Victoria and other states (2008)
• VIC Loddon Murray Community Leadership Program, encouraging youth leadership development in north central Victoria rural communities (2008)
• QLD Youth Information and Referral Service’s Young Driver Program Helps  socially excluded young people in Mackay gain their drivers licences and a better chance of work (2008)
• NSW Youth off the Streets Scholarship program in Mascot to assist 14 to 21 year olds to reach their full potential, achieve vocational goals and realise their capabilities (2009)
• NSW Police & Community Youth Clubs Music program in Orange giving young people their first hands-on experience of playing a musical instrument (2009)
• SA Time for Kids’ Financial Wizards Project in Adelaide, to help young parents (16-25 years) of children in respite care and family support, to set up household budgets and develop financial goals (2009)
• NSW Australian Children’s Music Foundation Youth at Risk program – helping to make music a permanent feature of every Juvenile Detention Centre in Australia (2010)
• NSW Family Resource & Network Support Inc – financial literacy program for young people with physical and intellectual disabilities, aimed at helping them develop essential money skills  (2010)
• ACT Galilee’s Young Women’s Graft Group in Pearce   A grant to enable the set up of the group and purchase of essential supplies, to facilitate hands-on training in small business management for young mothers who are the victims of homelessness, domestic violence and drug / alcohol dependencies  (2010)
• VIC Mission Australia’s Charcoal Lane, a social enterprise restaurant providing training and work experience to Aboriginal and disadvantaged young people (2010)
• QLD Friedrich Ataxia Research Association A grant to purchase a wheelchairs for sisters, aged 18 and 20 years, who are suffering from Friedrich Ataxia, a rare degenerative and life-shortening condition, made jointly with the AFA Foundation (2010)

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The Association of Financial Advisers Foundation (AFA Foundation) and Future2, the foundation of the Australian financial planning profession, have pooled their resources to support the purchase of wheelchairs for Jamie-Lee and Samantha Dwyer, sisters aged 18 and 20 years, who are suffering from Friedrich Ataxia (FA), a rare degenerative and life-shortening condition.

The grant application, which is in addition to the annual Future2 Make the Difference! Grant round, was supported by Tony Lindley, a member of the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA) and a long-standing friend of the Dwyer family.

Since Jamie-Lee and Samantha were diagnosed with the condition seven years ago, their father, Mike Dwyer, who is their primary carer, has volunteered some 30 hours a week through the Friedrich Ataxia Research Association (FARA) to finding a cure..

“Both girls attend university and are positive and inspirational young ladies,” Mr Lindley says.  “But unless a cure or treatment is found soon, their future is bleak.”

Mr Lindley said lightweight manual wheelchairs will enable Jamie-Lee and Samantha to maintain some independence and greatly improve their quality of life.  “It will also take some of the financial pressure away from the family which is supporting not only their own disabled children but also others affected by the condition.”

There are some 300 FA sufferers in Australia and many more worldwide.

AFA Foundation Chair Brian Boggs and Future2 Chair Steve Helmich welcomed the collaboration between the two charitable foundations.

“More powerfully than words ever can, this grant shows that financial advisers are a concerned group of business people who willingly give back to their communities, ”Mr Boggs said.

“The AFA Foundation is delighted that Future2 trustees, recognizing the grant’s transformative effect on lives of Jamie-Lee and Samantha , decided to make a $5,000 contribution.,”

Future2 Chair, Steven Helmich said that while the grant was outside Future2’s established grants program, it will make the ultimate difference to the sisters.

“It’s all too easy for those of us who are able bodied to take our mobility for granted,” he said.  “More than that, this grant opens the way to Future2 working more closely with the AFA Foundation and members of the Association of Financial Advisers and Future2 welcome that.”

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Four grants totaling $41,000 were announced today by Future2, giving vital support to grassroots projects working to transform the lives of disadvantaged young Australians who are at risk.

The four were selected from over 20 applications, each endorsed by a local financial planning professional.  They are:

$10,000 to the Australian Children’s Music Foundation ‘s (ACMF) Youth at Risk Music Program (North Sydney NSW).  Application supported by John Tutt, FPA member.

$10,000 to Family Resource & Network Support Inc (FRANS) for a financial literacy program for young people with disabilities (Croydon NSW). Application supported by Guy Thornycroft, FPA Sydney Chapter committee member.

$6,000 to Galilee Inc for a Young Women’s Craft Group (Pearce, Canberra ACT).  Application supported by Philip Basche, former FPA ACT Chapter Chair and a director of Galilee.

$15,000 to Mission Australia’s Charcoal Lane training program (Melbourne, VIC).  Application supported by Julian Place, FPA Melbourne Chapter Chair.

Future2 Chair Steven Helmich said this year, the  fourth round of Future2 Make the Difference! Grants, the quality and relevance of applications to the selection criteria was higher than ever.

“We saw a wider geographic spread and greater engagement by financial planners.

“It was inspiring to read of the work being done to repair damaged lives, build essential skills and offer pathways to sustainable employment”, Mr Helmich said.

“The successful applicants each has a great track record of achievement and a passionate commitment to touching and improving the lives of young Australians who are marginalized and lacking the opportunities most of us take for granted”, he added.

Future2 made its first grants in 2007, the year of the Foundation’s establishment.  Each year since then trustees have made further grants under the Make the Difference! Grants program.  Including these latest grants, some $150,000 has been committed to community initiatives that are bringing a second chance and hope for a better future to financially and socially disadvantaged young Australians.

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