Words from one of our donors

The following words were provided by one of our donors who has been quite generous with on going support of The Challenge and we are all forever grateful:

'Northern Bay College and its Challenge first came to my attention when I read about the involvement of the local community in establishing a Scholarship Fund for the benefit of students of the Northern Bay College in an article in "The Age" newspaper. Prior to reading that article I confess never to have heard of NBC. I had, however, before that time given some thought to how I could  help students from less advantaged backgrounds who required financial assistance fully to participate in the opportunities presented by their schools. Indeed I had tried to contact the administration of a local high school to offer some support for such students. I rang during school holidays and my call was not followed up.

I was therefore very pleased to hear of the NBC and of The Challenge. 

I am aware that private schools and universities have charitable foundations to which  I have been invited to contribute from time to time. It has always occurred to me that such gifts as I make could be better directed than to such foundations and that better use could be made of the money donated. I have been especially pleased that the scholarships which have been awarded to NBC students have, as I believe, been of great practical utility and calculated to make a real difference in the lives of the recipients.

Although there are many charitable bodies which do great good there is, in  the case of the NBC Scholarship Fund, an immediately identifiable student who can be seen to have been  assisted in a concrete way. This personal benefit is important to me as it clearly demonstrates that my gift will be significant and a help and encouragement to an individual student  who must face significant  challenges in their lives, in and outside, the school. I am fortunate that I have not myself personal experience of the many difficulties students at NBC must face. At a particular point in my life, however, I was myself the beneficiary of scholarship funds for which I was and am very grateful to the donors who had made such scholarships possible.

My late grandmother had a number of precepts which governed her life. One of these , which as I age , is becoming even more relevant, was that it is better to give with a warm hand. 

I am fortunate that my hand is still warm.

It gives me personal pleasure and satisfaction to be in a position where I can assist others to meet the challenges they face and thereby achieve  their full potential. I hope to be able to make further contributions in the future .'

*This donor wishes to remain anonymous.

Thank you to NBC Donors and Supporters

Northern Bay College endeavours to provide a rich learning environment that supports the many pathways and interests of our students.  Often, we have enquiries from our community or corporate groups about how they can help support our students and the school. 

• Some offer to assist with monetary donations which we can provide scholarships to cohorts of students, purchase specialist equipment to target the interests/passions of the donor or direct needs of students
• Others have the ability to link our students with other businesses, work experience or structured workplace learning, employment pathways.
• Some can offer mentoring or tutoring
• Others have resources or access to experiences to offer.

If you read through this newsletter, it becomes apparent that we need:

1. employers, industries, professionals, mentors/tutors to support our students,
2. opportunities and guest speakers for the Year 7/8 Scholarship groups to visit and engage with to build up their career knowledge and meet their aspirations, and
3. employers who could take our students requiring one day per week for Structured Workplace Learning as part of their Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning.