The SHCF is proud of the impact we have in our community. Since our foundation in 2001 we have contributed over $1M to more than 70 community organisations and 50 community capacity building projects across the Wingecarribee Shire.
Here is a snapshot of some of our work.
Angels in Our Town is a cultural community event acknowledging and celebrating our first responders, volunteers and service organisations — the Angels in our Town. Held throughout December in the towns and villages of the Southern Highlands, it culminates in a street parade through Bowral. The SHCF is proud to have been a supporter of the inaugural event in 2022.
Raise is a national not for profit whose focus is to support youth with an early intervention evidence based mentoring program which is delivered in local high school. The SHCF along with The 4K and BDCF have partnered to support this initiative in Bowral and Moss Vale High schools. Volunteer mentors from our local community work with young people to help them navigate challenges, believe in themselves and others. Research shows that young people who are mentored have lower levels of depression, higher sense of wellbeing, know where to go for support and are more likely to find employment and their future path.
The Charlotte Project Appeal is a fundraising appeal hosted by the SHCF and is the first initiative of Wingecarribee Women Writers.
The project is to erect a bronze statue of Charlotte Atkinson (1796 – 1867) in Berrima Park near the children’s playground.
Charlotte Atkinson (1796-1867) was a trail blazing author, artist and pioneer in the fight for women’s legal rights. She defended a landmark case in the Supreme Court of NSW to retain custody of her own children, after suffering violence at the hands of her second husband.
The Foundation for Rural Regional Renewal is a national Not for Profit organisation who is a trusted partner of the Southern Highlands Foundation. In the past 2 years the FRRR has supported the Foundation with granting $19,268 for our partnership with Harbison for a pilot called Grandfriends.
Each year the FRRR promotes a national program that helps regional remote and rural children to access quality educational experiences by the way of $50 vouchers to purchase school needs. The SHF has been granted over $90,000 worth of Back to School vouchers to be distributed to our local school students. These vouchers support our families who maybe experiencing financial stress but also help our local business community.
The FireAid 2020 Appeal raised over $340,000 which we have distributed to Wildlife Recovery, Local RFS Brigades, FireAid EFTPOS Card, Bushfire Recovery Support, PhotoVoice Competition, PhotoVoice – The Photo Essay of Renewal and Resilience.
Acknowledgement of country
The Southern Highlands Foundation acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
2023 Southern Highlands Community Foundation.
