St Bede’s Catholic College and Top Blokes Foundation are kicking off 2021 with projects that will positively contribute to the Chisholm community and are being backed by AVID Property Group’s (AVID) Waterford community through its 2020/2021 Community Sponsorship and Grants Program.

Each year Waterford receives numerous applications for its Community Sponsorship and Grants program; and with many local businesses and community groups hit hard by the pandemic, community funding is more important than ever.

This year’s Grant recipients are Top Blokes Foundation, to help them provide a professional Mentoring Program for Maitland High School, with the purpose of providing mental health support for young men, and St Bede’s Catholic College Chisholm for their Geography course weather study.

St Bede’s Catholic College Geography teacher Andrew Cornwall said the school will be implementing a professional grade weather station and water testing system with results and data to be used as part of the science and geography course, as well as to be shared with the public.

“The funding will enable our students to gain a deeper understanding of their local environment and community beyond the classroom while also benefiting the Chisholm community,” Mr Cornwall said.

“As a school, our desire is to connect the learning that happens inside the classroom to the wider community for real world benefits.

“Our students get a much better learning experience as stewards of the local environment and will get the most out of this project through their involvement in environmental management.

St Bede’s students will be involved in water quality testing, soil quality testing and atmospheric monitoring.

“We’re fortunate that a lot of our kids live very close to our school and the waterways they walk past every day on the way to school are the same ones that they are monitoring,” Mr Cornwall said.

“That connection helps build a sense of ownership and desire to care for the local environments.”

AVID Project Director New South Wales Nathan Huon said sponsorships play an important role in shaping a community and are a significant way for the Developer to contribute to the wider community.

“We were overwhelmed by the high calibre of applications we received this year, and are so glad that we can support projects that benefit our Chisholm community that will help it thrive and grow” Mr Huon said.

“We are excited to be able to award these Grants to St Bede’s and Top Blokes Foundation who both are doing some excellent and worthwhile work and we are looking forward to working with them.”

AVID is dedicated to creating lasting partnerships in and around the wider Waterford community, supporting local initiatives through its Community Sponsorship and Grants Program.

Waterford’s 2020/21 Community Sponsorship and Grants Program recipients:

• Top Blokes Foundation: https://www.topblokes.org.au/
• St Bede’s Catholic College Chisholm: http://www.chisholmsb.catholic.edu.au/