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.

1. Re-development of National Base (Tharwa, ACT)
2. Developing our WA Operation including upgrading facilities at Walpole Base-Camp
3. Annual Scholarships Funds (AOBDF)
4. Perpetual Scholarships (Named Scholarships in Perpetual Fund)
5. Future Area Development

Scholarships

• 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.
  
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• Rod Pearce                                          
  Chairman                                              
  Outward Bound Australia     
  
  
  Darren Black
  CEO
  Outward Bound Australia