Community organisations involved in programs, activities and events in the Pilbara will benefit from Fortescue’s latest round of funding in the company’s Community Support program, which provides grants of up to $3,000 to eligible applicants in Port Hedland, Roebourne, the Shire of East Pilbara and Tom Price.
In the last funding round, North Tom Price Primary School P&C Association were recipients of a Fortescue community grant which assisted them with purchasing a school subscription to online ready tools, ABC Reading Eggs and ABC Reading Eggspress, to develop students’ literacy both at school and home.
Amanda Turner of North Tom Price Primary School P&C Association said: “Everyone at North Tom Price Primary School is incredibly grateful to Fortescue for their generous contribution towards our ABC Reading Eggs subscriptions. These online learning resources are the building blocks for long term reading and academic success.”
Ms Turner encouraged eligible community groups and organisations to apply for funding in the latest round saying: “Fortescue’s Community Support application process was very simple and straightforward – it takes less than half an hour to complete the application.”
In Roebourne, Fortescue has recently supported the Pilbara Aboriginal Heart Health Program delivered by the National Heart Foundation, Bornor Gundi Gurrama’s 2015 NAIDOC Ball and an Aboriginal antenatal project developed in a collaboration between Mawarnkarra Aboriginal Health Service and Murdoch University.
In Port Hedland the South Hedland Owners and Trainers Association (SHOATA) accessed Fortescue funding to purchase professional show jumps for the 2015 Hedland Horse of the Year competition. The two-day event attracted over 40 competitors from across the Pilbara and hundreds of spectators.
SHOATA president, Stacey Amor, said: "SHOATA is incredibly grateful to Fortescue for their support in helping us provide a professional show jumping course at our annual Horse of the Year competition for our riders and spectators to enjoy.”
In the Shire of East Pilbara, a Fortescue community grant helped the Martu Trust deliver its 2015 summer school holiday program which engages over 350 youth from the Martu communities of the Western Desert region every holiday period to alleviate boredom and associated behaviour including vandalism, theft and crime. These are just some of the initiatives supported by Fortescue’s grant program.
Fortescue Group Manager Government and Community, Alexa Morcombe, said the Community Support program focuses on initiatives that embrace and support education and training, Aboriginal engagement, health and wellness, community safety, community involvement, economic development and environmental responsibility.
"Fortescue values the communities in which we operate and the Community Support program is just one of the ways we invest in these communities,” Ms Morcombe said.
Local community organisations within the Pilbara are encouraged to apply for Community Support before 30 April, 2016.