February 2026
Future Minds Network
FutureHack is a two-month, industry-backed program supporting 100 students who live in regional Victoria. The program brings together young Victorians from up to five low socio-economic and regional schools.
FutureHack addresses barriers to STEM participation by building students’ technical, problem-solving and entrepreneurial skills. Through industry engagement and hands-on learning, FutureHack increases confidence, exposes participants to diverse STEM pathways and supports aspiration toward further education and future careers.
I CAN Network
The I CAN Expo is an annual Victorian event supporting autistic young people by fostering belonging, connection, confidence, and skills in communication and self-advocacy. It complements the I CAN Schools and I CAN Online programs by showcasing students’ talents and passions.
Since 2015, the Expo has partnered with organisations including NAB, ANZ and, most recently, the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.
The 2025 Expo was highly successful, attracting more than 600 registered attendees, including students and teachers involved in the I CAN Schools program, with support from Newsboys and other sponsors.
From 2026-2028, the goal is to expand the Expo to reach more autistic young people, families, and educators, continuing to build community, confidence, self-belief, self-advocacy skills and awareness of future pathways while celebrating students’ achievements.
December 2025
Banksia Gardens
After School Program (Year 3 of 3)
After-school study groups provide individual tutorials and recreational activities three times a week to help young people connect with their community, engage in education, finish secondary school and create expansive pathways for the future.
ILBIJERRI Theatre Company
Youth Ensemble
The ILBIJERRI Youth Ensemble is an open-access program supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people to explore theatre-making and pathways into the arts. The Ensemble provides culturally grounded training led by Elders and First Peoples theatre professionals, strengthening cultural identity, creative confidence and skills development.
The program delivers fortnightly workshops in metro and regional Victoria for up to 15 participants aged 18-24, with this funding targeted toward 18–21-year-olds. Through hands-on training and supported creative exploration, participants build performance skills, industry knowledge, cultural connection and a professional support network.
The ILBIJERRI Youth Ensemble acts as a bridge between school, tertiary training and professional employment, empowering emerging First Peoples artists to develop their voices, leadership, and creative careers.
Yalari
6 Year Boarding & Tuition Scholarship for Vic Indigenous student (Year 3 of 6)
Yalari provides Indigenous young people from remote, rural and regional communities with scholarships to attend leading Australian boarding schools. Newsboys is proud to support a Victorian student at Geelong Grammar School.
October 2025
Consent Labs
Workforce Development for Consent & Respectful Relationships Education: Training Young Facilitators to Deliver Education to At-Risk Young People across Victoria
Consent Labs is a national not-for-profit working to create an Australian society where young people can safely engage in respectful relationships and live in a world free from sexual violence.
Consent Labs’ Specialised Facilitator Training Program is designed to equip young educators with the skills to deliver trauma-informed, culturally responsive consent and respectful relationships education to young people at risk. This includes students in regional and remote areas, from culturally and linguistically diverse and First Nations backgrounds, mental ill-health, or family and domestic violence.
Facilitators receive advanced training in mental health first aid, vicarious trauma, cultural competency and gain in-field experience alongside senior staff. This ensures education that is effective, intersectional and grounded in the lived realities of the young people we serve.
Dylan Alcott Foundation
DAF Pathways
The Dylan Alcott Foundation’s DAF Pathways program is a tailored initiative designed to empower young people with disabilities who face financial and societal barriers to achieving their goals. The Dylan Alcott Foundation works with recipients across the country to co-design support that reflects their unique needs and aspirations, whether through equipment, education, training, mentorship, or assistive technology.
With the support of the Newsboys Foundation, DAF will amplify theirimpact in Victoria and directly fund more applicants aged 11-21, with a focus on scholarships, education and mentoring.
Beyond direct support, the stories and achievements of our recipients play a vital role in a broader advocacy and awareness movement. By sharing their journeys, participants challenge outdated perceptions and unconscious biases about disability, helping to build a more inclusive, understanding, and equitable Australia.
www.dylanalcottfoundation.com.au
Melbourne Youth Orchestras
Supporting Young Musicians 2026-2028 (Year 1 of 3)
Melbourne Youth Orchestras (MYO) Financial Assistance Program supports young musicians experiencing geographic, economic and social barriers to participation in the Ensemble Program.
Newsboys Foundation is supporting full or part scholarships for up to 60 young musicians over three years who would otherwise be unable to take part in the program.
The MYO Summer School Residential Camp allows students who live in Regional Victoria to take part in the annual MYO Summer School while connecting with peers from across the state.
Newsboys is also helping offset the costs associated with hosting the camp.
Newsboys supports both the Financial Assistance Program and Residential Camp from January 2026 to December 2028.
The Reach Foundation
The Thrive Local Project
The Thrive Local Project, co-designed by young people, will support up to 720 secondary students aged 14-16 in the Mildura and Swan Hill regions of Victoria. In 2026, it will deliver 12 preventative mental health workshops across three local schools in Mildura, Irymple and Robinvale. At the schools, there is low student engagement, compounded by socio-economic disadvantage, limited access to support services and low retention rates.
Co-designed and delivered by Reach trained youth facilitators, the program builds protective factors such as connection, resilience and positive identity, helping vulnerable young people navigate adversity and thrive.
Skyline Foundation
Opening Doors: Supporting three additional students through Skyline
The Skyline Program supports gifted Victorian Year 11 and 12 students facing significant challenges, including socio-economic disadvantage and geographic isolation, enabling them to successfully complete high school.
Since its launch in 2006, Skyline has empowered students from rural Victoria and low-income backgrounds to overcome barriers such as poverty, limited academic resources and social disconnection.
Through academic tutoring, mentoring and opportunities to connect with like-minded peers, the program fosters confidence, enhances well-being, and deepens students’ engagement with education. More than 60 per cent of Skyline participants live at or below the poverty line, and more than half reside in regional areas. Despite these challenges, Skyline boasts an exceptional Year 12 completion rate of 96 per cent, compared to less than the 60 per cent average for rural students.
June 2025
Boys to the Bush (Trust grant)
Bush Connections: Boys to the Bush Victoria
Through mentoring and bush camps, Boys to the Bush changes lives and creates positive futures for disadvantaged young males living in rural and regional Victoria.
This grant supported the Boys to the Bush mentoring program for young males who have complex issues and require skilled mentoring to help them develop self-belief, establish positive relationships, connection to the community, and build vocational and life skills.
Melbourne Theatre Company
Young Artists Week
Young Artists Week brings together 25 participants who are experiencing disadvantage and are aged 14-16 for immersive theatre-making at the MTC led by teaching artists. At the end of the week, the students will showcase their work in a performance to parents, guardians, teachers and industry professionals.
Participants will be invited to attend Second Act, a reunion event, to reconnect with the ensemble and continue their learning journey with Melbourne Theatre Company.
Ocean Mind
Surf Therapy Program
Combining benefits of mentoring and surfing activities, Ocean Mind develops evidence-based programs that create life-changing experiences for young people who face mental health challenges, social isolation and disabilities.
Newsboys support the delivery of programs in Anglesea, Ocean Grove and the Mornington Peninsula.
STREAT
Thyme Out
STREAT is a social enterprise that helps young people who have experienced marginalisation, disadvantage and a range of barriers to employment. STREAT provides pre-vocational training and holistic personal support to young people.
Newsboys support a STREAT Café at the Parkville Youth Justice Precinct. The café provides intensive hospitality training and employment to help young people who are exiting the juvenile justice system to build their lives.
Very Special Kids
Youth Advisory Group
Very Special Kids provides holistic palliative care for Victorian children and young people with life-limiting conditions. Very Special Kids also provides tailored support for their families – through life, death, and bereavement.
Newsboys support VSK’s Youth Advisory Group of up to 12 young people from diverse backgrounds, who help ensure Very Special Kids meets the emotional, spiritual and physical needs of young people.
The advisory group provides feedback and guidance on the development of programs, as well as important personal development opportunities for young people who face many challenges.
May 2025
Black Hole Theatre
Stories from the Karen
Stories from the Karen is a project initiated by the Karen communities in Horsham, Nhill, and Bendigo.
Participants will include young Karen people and young people from other cultural backgrounds, helping to break down social isolation and build broader community connections.
The Karen – an ethnic minority from northern Myanmar who have been persecuted by the ruling junta – began settling in Australia two decades ago and many live in regional Victoria.
In partnership with Black Hole Theatre, participants (including Karen elders) will create a theatre work incorporating giant lantern puppets, projections, video, recorded text, and elements of traditional Karen culture, such as dance, poetry, and music.
The project will culminate in performances on 1 and 2 November at the Nati Frinj Biennale in Natimuk, Victoria.
I Can Network
I CAN Expo
The I CAN Expo plays a vital role in the lives of autistic and neurodivergent young people from across Victoria.
Through the Expo, participants build social connections, confidence, and a strong sense of belonging.
They have the opportunity to meet peers with similar experiences, form networks, take part in activities, listen to (or deliver) student presentations, access information, and explore education and employment pathways beyond school.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the event, and it is set to double in size to accommodate 600 attendees. A new venue – the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre – will host the Expo on Thursday, 9 October 2025.
L2R
Next Gen – Community Dance program
Next Gen is L2R’s program of free, weekly hip hop classes for young people at two locations – Wyndham and Braybrook. The program is delivered during school terms throughout the year.
The program brings together culturally diverse young people from Melbourne’s western suburbs to engage in street dance, social connection, community strengthening and confidence-building exercises.
The Mirabel Foundation
Intensive Support Program
Mirabel’s Intensive Support Program empowers young people who have been orphaned or abandoned as a result of parental drug use to overcome complex challenges, including deteriorating mental health, undiagnosed disabilities and low self-esteem.
Experienced youth workers work closely with young people and their carers to address the presenting issues and establish goals for the future. A range of support is also offered to cater for individual needs and create opportunities to participate in the community.
Western Edge
Victoria University Secondary College – In-school Residency
The In-School Residency works with young people from culturally diverse and low socio-economic backgrounds who live in the outer western suburbs of Melbourne.
Students from years 7 to 12 take part in 15 workshops over six months to create an original theatre production. They are guided by professional theatre-makers and learn collaboration and onstage and backstage theatre craft. Creative expression is encouraged through team-building activities, drama, improvisation and writing. Three performances will be staged for the school community.
Live4Life
City of Latrobe and Hepburn Shire
Live4Life brings together whole communities to respond to youth mental and suicide prevention.
Through events, education and networking, Live4Life aims to ensure that young people, teachers, parents, and entire communities in rural and regional Victoria are better informed about mental ill-health.
Through mental-health first-aid training, young people and community members gain the skills they need to identify the signs and symptoms of an emerging mental health issue before a crisis occurs.
February 2025
Mountain District Radio Inc. 3MDR
Empowering Youth Voices
Empowering Youth Voices is a radio initiative aimed at engaging young people in community radio. This year-long program will train young people in broadcasting, interviewing, storytelling, and audio editing with the goal of building essential technical and communication skills and fostering self-confidence. Through hands-on learning, mentorship, and live broadcasts, participants will learn how to produce radio shows that address topics relevant to them and their communities.
Phunktional
SEEN
SEEN is a performing arts project in Robinvale led by Australian First Nations people and facilitated by Phunktional. SEEN aims to strengthen the social and emotional wellbeing of local young people by raising awareness about online hate speech. Inspired by First Nations stories along the Murray River, it empowers young people and promotes safety.
The project will address risks associated with online hate speech by developing and performing a collaborative theatre show with communities in Robinvale (Tati Tati and Wadi Wadi), and later touring to Mildura.
STREAT
STREAT Youth Programs Team
STREAT is a social enterprise that helps young people aged 16-24 who have experienced marginalisation, disadvantage and a range of barriers to employment. STREAT provides supported pre-vocational training and holistic personal support to young people.
STREAT offers comprehensive, wrap-around services, including a dedicated Youth Programs Team of allied health professionals who work closely with young people to set and achieve personalised goals such as securing open employment, pursuing further study or training, or improving overall health, housing and work outcomes.
STREAT’s youth programs include a Taste of STREAT, Fast Track to Work, Paid to Work and the Parkville Cafe Program.
December 2024
Banksia Gardens Community Centre
After School Program
The after-school study groups provide individual tutorials and recreational activities three times a week to help young people connect with their community, engage in education, finish secondary school and create expansive pathways for the future.
Melbourne Youth Orchestras
Financial Assistance Program
Provides a financial assistance program for students from families experiencing financial hardship and those travelling from regional and rural areas helping ensure that no young musician is ever excluded from MYO programs due to disadvantage.
Righteous Pups Australia
The Wellness Warriors Project
Helps young people in central Victoria, who are deemed to be at significant educational and psychological risk, through an innovative therapy dog program. Young people work under the guidance of a counsellor and professional dog trainer to learn how to train assistance dogs and in doing so, develop their own self-awareness, self-confidence, and social skills.
Westjustice
Legal Services for Young People in Out of Home Care
Works extensively with vulnerable young people through embedded outreach legal services delivered where the young people live, learn, work and socialise. Comprehensive legal services are offered to young people in out of home residential care.
Yalari
Six-year Boarding & Tuition Scholarship for Victorian Indigenous Student
Provides Indigenous young people from remote, rural and regional communities with scholarships to attend leading Australian boarding schools. Newsboys is proudly supporting a Victorian student at Geelong Grammar School.
September 2024
OzChild
Chance to Shine Scholarship Program
Provides educational scholarships to vulnerable and disadvantaged young people who are currently supported by OzChild to ensure they have the necessary resources and opportunities to reach their full potential.
Western Chances
Western Chances supports talented and motivated students in the western region of Melbourne who may not otherwise have an opportunity to fulfil their potential and overcome barriers to educational and other success. Western Chances provides scholarships, opportunity programs, and access to mentors and networks. Students are nominated by teachers and are supported in secondary school and university.
Geelong Chances Program Pilot
In 2024, Western Chances expanded its reach to establish a three-year pilot program in Geelong. In the first year, Western Chances worked with six schools and awarded 37 scholarships. Newsboys has supported the second year of the pilot program.
July 2024
Bass Coast College
Senior Art Camp
The inaugural Bass Coast College Senior Art Camp is a student-led initiative to enable up to 26 students in Year 11 to experience Melbourne over three days.
The arts, cultural and learning activities will include: visiting art galleries and making art; a behind the scenes tour at Arts Centre Melbourne; attending Victorian Opera’s production of Sweeney Todd; and experiencing IMAX Melbourne, which has the largest screen in the southern hemisphere. Students will be introduced to a range of dining experiences, including a banquet at Nyala’s African Restaurant in Brunswick Street, Fitzroy.
All planned activities have been chosen with student input to boost students’ confidence, broaden their horizons and provide new experiences.
June 2024
Brainwave Australia
Employment for young people living with a disability
Brainwave Bikes is a social enterprise that refurbishes and sells used bikes. The project provides accredited training and work experience for young people with disabilities, providing pathways to mainstream employment.
Helping Hoops
Croxton & Broadmeadows
Helping Hoops uses basketball to inspire, empower and support young people through free community-based programs that instil values and skills that benefit young people. Participants are generally from a refugee, migrant or asylum seeker background, have a disability, or are living in an inner-city Melbourne high-rise public-housing estate.
Mirabel Foundation
Intensive Support Program
Mirabel’s Intensive Support Program empowers young people who have been orphaned or abandoned as a result of parental drug use to overcome complex challenges, including deteriorating mental health, undiagnosed disabilities and low self-esteem.
Experienced youth workers work closely with 30 young people and their carers to address the presenting issues and establish goals for the future. A range of support is also offered to cater for individual needs and create opportunities to participate in the community.
Melbourne Youth Orchestras
Summer School Residential Camp 2024
Students from across Victoria take part in the annual MYO Summer School at Southbank so they can connect with peers from across the state. A residential camp is provided for young people from rural and regional Victoria to enable them to attend the MYO Summer School.
Ocean Mind
Surf Therapy Program
Combines the benefits of surfing with mentoring activities to improve the mental health of young people.
STREAT
Thyme Out
A STREAT Café, at the Parkville Youth Justice Precinct, provides intensive hospitality and horticulture training and employment to enable young people who are exiting the juvenile justice system to build their lives.
Very Special Kids
Very Special Kids provides holistic palliative care for Victorian children and young people with life-limiting conditions, and tailored support for their families – through life, death, and bereavement.
Mittagundi Adolescent Camp
The Mittagundi Adolescent Camp was introduced in 2015 as a result of feedback from adolescent siblings who suggested an adolescent-only camp. The camp, which now takes place every two years, involves about 18 siblings of kids with life-limiting conditions. The five-night outdoor program encourages participants to connect with nature and with each other, without technology and modern distractions.
It enhances individual resilience and fosters friendships.
Youth Advisory Group
To ensure the Very Special Youth program is meeting the emotional, spiritual and physical needs of young people, Very Special Kids established a Youth Advisory Group of up to 12 adolescents from diverse backgrounds. The advisory group provides feedback and guidance on the development of programs, as well as important personal development opportunities for young people who face many challenges.
Newsboys Foundation Trust Grants
Boys to the Bush
Bendigo
Through mentoring and bush camps, Boys to the Bush changes lives and creates positive futures for disadvantaged young males living in Victoria. This grant supported the expansion of Boys to the Bush to set up a base in Bendigo.
This grant is proudly supported by The Gruppetto Fund Extension, a sub-fund of Australian Communities Foundation.
April 2024
Live4Life
City of Latrobe & Hepburn Shire
A whole-of-community response to youth mental health and suicide prevention with a long-term change agenda. The Live4Life model aims to ensure that young people, teachers, parents, and entire communities in rural and regional Victoria are better informed about mental ill-health and more proactive in identifying the signs and symptoms of an emerging mental health issue before a crisis occurs.
Western Edge
Stronger Together – Edge to Edge
This youth-led Community Youth Theatre program is open to young people across Melbourne’s western suburbs, especially those from diverse and multicultural backgrounds, and those experiencing structural disadvantage. It runs for 20 weeks with weekly two-hour creative theatre workshops, across Footscray, St Albans and Wyndham, culminating in a public performance.
Westjustice
Legal Services for Young People in Out of Home Care
Works extensively with vulnerable young people through embedded outreach legal services delivered where the young people live, learn, work and socialise. Comprehensive legal services are offered to young people in out of home residential care.
December 2023
Banksia Gardens Community Centre
After School Program
The after-school study groups provide individual tutorials and recreational activities three times a week to help young people connect with their community, engage in education, finish secondary school and create expansive pathways for the future.
Melbourne Theatre Company
Youth Scholarship Course
Brings together 25 participants who are experiencing disadvantage and are aged 14-16 for a week of immersive theatre-making at the MTC with teaching artists. At the end of the week, the students showcase their work through a performance to parents, guardians, teachers and industry professionals. Online and follow-up activities with the participants are provided over 12 months.
Melbourne Youth Orchestras
Financial Assistance Program
Provides a financial assistance program for students from families experiencing financial hardship and those travelling from regional and rural areas helping ensure that no young musician is ever excluded from MYO programs due to disadvantage.
Righteous Pups Australia
The Wellness Warriors Project
Helps young people in central Victoria, who are deemed to be at significant educational and psychological risk, through an innovative therapy dog program. Young people work under the guidance of a counsellor and professional dog trainer to learn how to train assistance dogs and in doing so, develop their own self-awareness, self-confidence, and social skills.
September 2023
Australian Ballet School
Bursary Program
The Bursary Program aims to ensure that financial constraints do not prevent talented students from training at the Australian Ballet School. Without the financial assistance provided by the Bursary Program, many ABS students – particularly those from rural and regional Victoria – would not be able to attend the school and reach their potential.
www.australianballetschool.com.au
OzChild
Chance to Shine Scholarship Program
Provides educational scholarships to vulnerable and disadvantaged young people who are currently supported by OzChild to ensure they have the necessary resources and opportunities to reach their full potential.
Yalari
Six-year Boarding & Tuition Scholarship for Victorian Indigenous Student
Provides Indigenous young people from remote, rural and regional communities with scholarships to attend leading Australian boarding schools. Newsboys is proudly supporting a Victorian student at Geelong Grammar School.
June 2023
Brainwave Australia
Employment for Young People with a Disability
Brainwave Bikes is a social enterprise that refurbishes and sells used bikes. The project provides accredited training and work experience for young people with disabilities, providing pathways to mainstream employment.
Mirabel Foundation
Intensive Support Program
Helping remove the barriers to education and community participation for 30 young people with complex and challenging behavior.
Melbourne Youth Orchestras
Summer School Residential Camp
Students from across Victoria take part in the annual MYO Summer School at Southbank so they can connect with peers from across the state. A residential camp is provided for young people from rural and regional Victoria to enable them to attend the MYO Summer School.
Ocean Mind
Surf Therapy Program
Combining the benefits of surfing with mentoring activities to improve the mental health of young people.
STREAT
Thyme Out
A STREAT café at the Parkville Youth Justice Precinct provides intensive hospitality and horticulture training and employment to enable young people who are exiting the juvenile justice system to build their lives.
Very Special Kids
Sibling Program and Youth Advisory Group
Providing opportunities for siblings to meet and connect, through their shared experience of living with a brother or sister with a life-threatening condition or dealing with the loss of a sibling. The program comprises a variety of planned activities in a caring and safe environment and is guided by the newly established Youth Advisory Committee.
April 2023
Helping Hoops
Croxton & Broadmeadows
Helping Hoops uses basketball to inspire, empower and support young people through free community-based programs that instil values and skills that benefit young people. Participants are generally from a refugee, migrant or asylum seeker background, have an intellectual disability, or are living in an inner-city Melbourne high-rise public-housing estate.
Youth Live4Life
City of Latrobe and Hepburn Shire
A whole of community response to youth mental health and suicide prevention with a long-term change agenda. The Live4Life model aims to ensure that young people, teachers, parents, and entire communities in rural and regional Victoria are better informed about mental ill-health and more proactive in identifying the signs and symptoms of an emerging mental health issue before a crisis occurs.
Polyglot Theatre
Rumba Shopfront
Collaborate with Rumbalara Football Netball Club in Shepparton to empower Indigenous young people through an art-meets-sport public installation project. The work helps to build community and cultural connections.
Western Edge
Stronger Together – Edge to Edge
This youth-led Community Youth Theatre program is open to young people across Melbourne’s western suburbs, especially those from diverse and multicultural backgrounds, and those experiencing structural disadvantage. It runs for 20 weeks of weekly two-hour creative theatre workshops, across Footscray, Werribee, St Albans and Laverton North culminating in a public performance outcome.
February 2023
Melbourne Theatre Company
Youth Scholarship Course
Brings together 25 participants who are experiencing disadvantage and are aged 14-16 for a week of immersive theatre-making at the MTC with teaching artists. At the end of the week, the students showcase their work through a performance to parents, guardians, teachers and industry professionals. On-line and follow up activities with the participants are provided over 12 months.
December 2022
Banksia Gardens
Stronger Foundations Study Program
The after-school study groups provide individual tutorials and recreational activities three times a week to help young people connect with their community, engage in education, finish secondary school and create expansive pathways for the future.
Melbourne Youth Orchestras
Financial Assistance for Young Musicians
Providing a financial assistance program for students from families experiencing financial hardship and those travelling from regional and rural areas helping ensure that no young musician is ever excluded from MYO programs due to disadvantage.
Mallee Accommodation & Support Program (MASP)
Youth Mentoring Program
Fifteen young people in the Mallee region, who are dealing with complex life issues, are mentored over nine months culminating in a seven-day hike through the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. Participants discover their inner strength, gain insight into their lives, build support networks and life-changing friendships.
Righteous Pups
The Wellness Warriors Project
Helping young people in central Victoria who are deemed to be at significant educational and psychological risk through an innovative therapy dog program. Young people work under the guidance of a counsellor and professional dog trainer to learn how to train assistance dogs and in doing so develop their own self-awareness, self-confidence, and social skills.
Westjustice
Poverty is not Destiny – Out of Home Care and In Custody Legal Clinics
Working extensively with vulnerable young people through embedded outreach legal services delivered where young people live, learn, work and socialise. Comprehensive legal services are offered to young people in residential care and custody.
September 2022
Centre for Multicultural Youth (CMY)
The Wimmera Project
The program provides support to multicultural young people in Horsham and Nhill so they can engage with their community and develop leadership skills. The program also helps build the capacity of local services so the services can understand and respond to the needs of multicultural young people and their families.
OZChild (Children Australia)
Chance to Shine Scholarship Program
Provide educational scholarships to vulnerable and disadvantaged young people who are currently supported by OzChild to ensure they have the necessary resources and opportunities to reach their full potential.
Western Edge
Partner up for Youth Mental Health
This collaborative program aims to provide the best possible care for young people between the ages of 11-21 who have been severely impacted by the pandemic, as the number of young people with mental health issues is at an all-time high. The program provides mental health training, resources and support for Western Edge and Polyglot artists and arts workers who are employed to provide safe, positive, and uplifting arts experiences for young people.
Wellsprings for Women
Girls on the move
Working with young women aged 15-21 years from migrant and refugee backgrounds to create pathways for participation in sports and physical activities.
June 2022
Brainwave Australia
Employment for Young People with a Disability
Brainwave Bikes is a social enterprise that refurbishes and sells used bikes. The project provides work experience and training for 30 young jobseekers aged 18-21, providing pathways to mainstream employment.
Edenhope College
Hands on Learning (HOL)
Establishment of the Hands on Learning program at Edenhope College. HOL assists students to build wellbeing, engagement, and attendance by creating opportunities for students to discover their talents and experience success through authentic hands-on projects.
Horsham Special Developmental School
Hands on Learning (HOL)
Establishment of the Hands on Learning program at the Horsham Special School. HOL assists students to build wellbeing, engagement, and attendance by creating opportunities for students to discover their talents and experience success through authentic hands-on projects.
I CAN Network
Deepening our Impact with Autistic Young Victorians
I CAN Online School Lunchtime Groups is a pilot program – a hybrid of the I CAN Online and I CAN School programs – held during lunchtimes to support young people struggling to reconnect with their education. Participants will also have an opportunity to connect face-to-face via AWETISM 2022 Expo.
Ocean Mind
Surf Therapy Program
Combining the benefits of surfing with mentoring activities to improve the mental health of young people.
STREAT
Thyme Out
A STREAT café at the Parkville Youth Justice Precinct has been established. The program provides intensive hospitality and horticulture training and employment to enable young people who are exiting the juvenile justice system to build their lives.
Very Special Kids
Bereaved Sibling Therapeutic Group and Sibling Days
Bereaved Sibling Therapeutic Group sessions create a safe space for siblings to acknowledge, explore and express their grief and bereavement experience, which is critical to normalising the emotions and experiences of participants.
Sibling Days connect young people to their peers with similar lived experiences, encouraging creative expression of emotions and helping foster self-esteem and confidence.
Youth Live4Life
Southern Grampians and Baw Baw Shires
A whole of community response to youth mental health and suicide prevention with a long-term change agenda. The Live4Life model aims to ensure that young people, teachers, parents and entire communities in rural and regional Victoria are better informed about mental ill-health and more proactive in identifying the signs and symptoms of an emerging mental health issue before a crisis occurs.
Newsboys Foundation Trust Grants
Boys to the Bush
Victoria’s Men of Tomorrow
Through mentoring and bush camps, Boys to the Bush changes lives and creates positive futures for disadvantaged young males living in Northeast Victoria. This grant supported the expansion of Boys to the Bush to set up a base in Wangaratta.
This grant is proudly supported by The Gruppetto Fund Extension, a sub-fund of Australian Communities Foundation.
Ocean Mind
Surf Therapy Program
Combining the benefits of surfing with mentoring activities to improve the mental health of young people.
This grant is proudly supported by The Gruppetto Fund Extension, a sub-fund of Australian Communities Foundation.
April 2022
Melbourne Recital Centre
Newsboys Foundation Regional Music Award
Supports a dedicated and gifted musician who studies at a regional or rural Victorian government school to access a week-long, personally-designed, intensive musical learning program at the Melbourne Recital Centre.
Regional Master Class Program
The regional master class program takes musicians to country Victoria to provide tuition for young people within their community.
www.melbournerecitalcentre.com.au
Outer Urban Projects
Access and Outreach
Supporting high-needs participants by reaching out and providing access to OUP’s dance, music, and writing workshops. The workshops are taught by artists who reflect multi-cultural communities in Melbourne’s outer north. Priority access is reserved for young people who are socially disengaged, have disabilities, are refugees and or recently settled young immigrants.
Phunktional
The River Spirit Film Project
With the support of Elders and the wider community, Phunktional has created a place-based project in Robinvale since 2009. Young people are supported to express their ideas and create short films. Phunktional’s work in Robinvale focuses on improving wellbeing and connecting young people with elders, their culture, and the broader community.
Polyglot Theatre
Rumba Mall
Collaborate with Rumbalara Football Netball Club in Shepparton to empower Indigenous young people through an art-meets-sport public installation project. This helps to address some of the complex risks young people face such as cultural disconnection and exclusion from the broader town community.
The Mirabel Foundation
Mirabel Intensive Support Program
Helping remove the barriers to community participation each year for 30 young people with complex and challenging behavior.
February 2022
Berry Street
Berry Street Education Model: Collective Leadership Program
Providing a whole-school approach for staff to learn effective strategies to support young people who have experienced trauma, engaging with and encouraging them to succeed.
December 2021
Breakaway Youth
Summer and Winter Camps for School Success
Preparing young people from Melbourne’s north for school success via a supportive outdoor adventure program that fosters a sense of belonging.
Melbourne Youth Orchestras
Financial Assistance for Young Musicians
Providing a financial assistance program for students from families experiencing financial hardship and those travelling from regional and rural areas helping ensure that no young musician is ever excluded from MYO programs due to disadvantage.
WEstjustice
Proverty is not destiny – Out of Home Care and In-Custody Legal Clinics
Working extensively with young people through embedded outreach legal services delivered where young people live, learn, work and socialise. Comprehensive legal services are offered to young people in care and custody.
September 2021
Banksia Gardens
Stronger Foundations Study Group
Through study groups, individual tutorials, and recreational activities, helping young people connect with their community, engage in education, finish secondary school and create expansive pathways for the future.
Children Australia (OzChild)
Chance to Shine Scholarships
Provide educational scholarships to vulnerable and disadvantaged young people who are currently supported by OzChild to ensure they have the necessary resources and opportunities to reach their full potential.
Western Chances
Scholarships
Providing new and renewal scholarships to support the education of about 18 talented young people from culturally diverse backgrounds who are experiencing financial disadvantage and other barriers to education.
July 2021
Ardoch
Pathways Beyond School
Over three years from 2019-2022, supporting more than 6,000 students in partner secondary schools in North Geelong, Frankston North, Melbourne’s West and Greater Dandenong to build confidence and prepare for their futures.
Kids Under Cover
Education Scholarships for Young People Exiting Youth Justice
Provide young people formally at risk of homelessness with critical financial relief to offset the basic costs of their education and training.
