Country Education Foundation of Orange & Districts (CEF Orange & Districts) provides grants, scholarships and support to local school leavers who aspire to further education after school.
There is no doubt that students from rural, regional and remote areas face unique and often significant challenges in undertaking, aspiring to and accessing education. But, we know that no matter what is thrown at them, our country students always show resilience and determination, finding a way to make their education goals reality.
CEF Orange & Districts fundraises throughout the year to provide grants and support local students in a diverse range of education and career pursuits including apprenticeships, traineeships, cadetships, degrees, diplomas and certificate level studies or entry careers. We do not provide cash grants directly to the recipients – the local foundation reimburses the student for a pre-agreed expense or pays the goods and services providers directly.
More than just financial support, each committee member is also ‘buddied up’ to students to provide mentoring and support throughout the year.
We award funds on the basis of financial need, to those who are leaving school or have left school but have not been able to take up opportunities open to them. People often ask why we choose to help them at this particular point in their lives. And the answer is that leaving school is a critical tipping point for them, and also for our wider community. In helping these young people, we are saying “we want young people in our community to have a better future, to reach their goals, and to help improve our collective life. We understand that supporting our young people builds a stronger community for us all – and we’re prepared to do as much as we can to make that happen”.
As a part of the Country Education Foundation network, our contribution is included in the national Impact Report 2022.
