Viva Energy Australia (“Viva Energy”) and the Cathy Freeman Foundation have announced a major, four-year partnership deal billed as the largest in the history of both organisations in support of Indigenous education.
Cathy Freeman, Co-Founder and Director of the Cathy Freeman Foundation said, “The Cathy Freeman Foundation is very pleased to welcome Viva Energy on board as the largest corporate partner we’ve ever had.”
The Cathy Freeman Foundation is proud to be a major beneficiary of Viva Energy’s unprecedented community program, which supports a number of wonderful organisations focused on addressing issues of mental health, Indigenous participation and substance misuse.
Viva Energy’s funding will be used to support education programs in four of the largest remote communities in Australia including Palm Island and Woorabinda in Queensland as well as Wurrumiyanga and Galiwin’ku in the Northern Territory.
Viva Energy’s Indigenous Advisory Group Chair, Daniel Ridgway said, “We are proud to support the Foundation’s work, which aims to re-engage Indigenous students in education, increase Year 12 completion rates and provide inspiration about future employment opportunities.”
“Our partnership with the Foundation also supports the work we do with the Federal Government to address at-risk behaviour and to help support Indigenous youth through the power of education” he said.
During the four-year partnership, Viva Energy will be the national partner of the Horizons Program - a personal development project building resilience and providing students with tools to set and achieve their own goals and to finish Year 12. Viva Energy is also a major supporter of the Activities Program on Palm Island, which encourages school attendance and achievement via extra-curricular sport, recreation and cultural activities for students.
To celebrate the launch the beginning of the school year, Viva Energy volunteers joined Cathy Freeman Foundation staff on Palm Island in a significant and powerful ‘Back to School’ march. This initiative aims to encourage families to return to their community in time for day one of the school term and rewards students who attend the first day. The march included students, teachers, local police, government officials and Cathy Freeman Foundation staff and moved through the community before dropping students off to school.
“It is very exciting to have Viva Energy partner with the Cathy Freeman Foundation, as well as join the first ‘Back to School’ march in Palm Island. The march is a powerful symbol of community support for education and will kick off the school year by inspiring more students to succeed in school,” said Cathy.