Outward Bound instructor Michael Peoples was nominated by the Registered Training Organisation for the ACT Australian Apprentice (Trainee of the Year). The 2008 ACT Training Excellence Awards are the premier event in the Vocational Education and Training calender and an opportunity to identify, promote and reward individuals and organisations that excel in Vocational Education and training in the ACT.
Annual Giving Appeal 2008 - Investing in the Future
Outward Bound has been changing the lives of Australians now for 50 years. In 2007/08 almost 5000 people have participated in an Outward Bound course and of these, over 500 young Australians will have benefited from an Australian Outward Bound Development Fund (AOBDF) scholarship.
These scholarships have enabled young Australians from regional communities and disadvantaged backgrounds to attend one of our youth leadership courses, regional community programs or staff training scholarships. We have achieved this by working closely with other organisations such as: The Country Education Foundation of Australia, The Smith Family, Reach and many of our regional Lions clubs. However, the major share of the scholarship funding has again been provided by the generous support of the friends of Outward Bound.
Much of our focus over the past three or four years has been on making Outward Bound sustainable. We are pleased to report that we are on track to repeat the modest operating surplus achieved last financial year. That is, revenues from the delivery of programmes will again exceed operating expenses (without donations). This is a significant achievement for an Outward Bound School, brought about by a disciplined approach to implementing a range of business improvements in recent years.
Our vision for the future is to enable Outward Bound Australia to be the leader in providing life changing outdoor education experiences that build resilience, compassion, integrity, responsibility and environmental stewardship in generations of young Australians. We realise that our strengths to underpin this vision lie in the quality of our people and our programs. However, to truly allow Outward Bound Australia to achieve its potential we need to preserve and improve its assets and make investments for future generations. The Board of Outward Bound Australia has endorsed a new fundraising plan aimed at preserving the assets of Outward Bound and investing for future generations. The 5 Goals of the Fundraising Plan are:
Re-development of National Base (Tharwa, ACT)
Developing our WA Operation including upgrading facilities at Walpole Base-Camp
Annual Scholarships Funds (AOBDF)
Perpetual Scholarships (Named Scholarships in Perpetual Fund)
Future Area Development
Scholarships
We are seeking your support through the AOBDF to grow the number of scholarship recipients each year from around 8-9% (our average in recent years) to 10% in 2008 and eventually to 20% of our annual participants. We seek your gift to the Scholarship Funds to enable an increasing number of young Australians from less advantaged backgrounds to access the Outward Bound programme.
Perpetual Scholarship Fund. We have established the goal of creating a “Perpetual Scholarship” Fund with an initial target of $500,000. Last year we raised $65,000 to begin this scholarship fund, which will be established as an endowment to ensure future generations of Australians are able to access the life changing benefits of Outward Bound regardless of their financial circumstances. Gifts of $10,000 or more will receive a named scholarship in perpetuity.
Annual Scholarship Fund. To provide the 500 scholarships last FY we raised over $400,000 from a range of sources: Charitable Trusts and Foundations, Corporate Support, Family Trusts and individual donors. We again seek your support this year to the Annual Scholarship Fund. Scholarships are typically awarded in the amount between $500 and $2,000.
Staff Scholarships. Within the category of Annual Scholarships, we are also able to award scholarships for staff in training. As you know, the quality of the Outward Bound experience is only as good as the quality and training of our staff. Outward Bound continues to attract wonderful people. However, as with some of our participants, some prospective staff also need financial support to allow them to undertake an Outward Bound internship. Your investment of $2,000 or more will provide a staff scholarship for an Outward Bound intern, which will in turn allow Outward Bound to positively impact more Australians.We commend these important projects to you and stress that Outward Bound values all gifts, no matter at what level. Please do what you can to help – an investment in Outward Bound is an investment in the future development of Australia’s youth. Click here to donate now
We are seeking an enthusiastic individual to fulfill the full-time role of Recruitment Officer at our National Base, just south of Canberra. This exciting new role involves coordinating the recruitment, selection and induction processes at Outward Bound Australia. This is a great opportunity to join this vibrant industry, meeting interesting people and being involved in the strategic direction of the organisation.
Outward Bound has been changing the lives of Australians now for 50 years. In 2007/08 almost 5000 people have participated in an Outward Bound course and of these, over 500 young Australians will have benefited from an Australian Outward Bound Development Fund (AOBDF) scholarship. 