The Readings Foundation grant recipients announced for 2015

The Readings Foundation has announced $113,880 worth of grants to support a range of projects and organisations within Victoria in 2015.

The Readings Foundation grant funding in 2015 will have a strong focus on those organisations directly supporting disadvantaged communities by way of literacy and educational assistance programs. Leaning towards direct human contact at the individual level with subsequent impact on greater social change, The Readings Foundation is proud to award grants to the following organisations:


Somebody’s Daughter Theatre ($10,000)


Somebody’s Daughter Theatre (SDT) provides creative workshops for current and prospective foster-carers and children in their care. With the assistance of The Readings Foundation, SDT can now add a storytelling/writing program for the young people in foster-care and their carers – people who make themselves and their homes safe places for vulnerable, damaged young people.


Reading Out Of Poverty ($16,000)


Reading Out Of Poverty aims to establish a new chapter in the outer SE Suburbs of Melbourne, so that they can provide literacy support to disadvantaged children and families in the region. With the support of local volunteers and community partners, Reading Out Of Poverty will provide a range of critical pre-literacy support services and activities to the community including read out aloud and one on one reading support, parent mentoring and books and literacy resources.


Mallee Family Care ($20,000)


Reading Discovery (RD) is an early intervention preschool program that targets marginalised families in Mildura to improve language and literacy. The activities of the program include home visits, organising playgroups, linking families to other agencies and informaton sessions. Program volunteers help parents support their children’s learning through reading books, nursery rhymes, singing and “story-play”- an activity that turns story telling into imaginary play.


Asylum Seeker Resource Centre ($15,000)


The School’s Program will provide students and teachers with the tools to change attitudes towards asylum seekers. Trained volunteer speakers give inspiring presentations to primary and secondary school students, providing accurate and up-to-date information about the plight of asylum seekers in Australia.

The School’s Program emphasises the importance of social justice literacy. Exploring the asylum seeker issue teaches children how to properly interpret all the information (and misinformation) they encounter each day.


Migrant Information Centre ($2880)


The Migrant Information Centre (MIC) runs a number of highly successful programs that focus on the literacy and other educational needs of families from refugee or family stream migrant backgrounds, including six homework groups and three playgroups. With funding from The Readings Foundation, the groups can now greatly benefit from extra reading resources, literacy games and teaching aides. These resources will increase the capacity of the programs to engage families from non-English speaking backgrounds in both the utility and beauty of words, in English and in their own languages.


Aboriginal Literacy Foundation ($10,000)


The Aspire program aims to bring 100 Indigenous girls aged 14-18 years together for a weekly Literacy & Numeracy Homework Club based in the Northern suburbs of Melbourne. The program will also assemble the girls for ten special monthly camps where they will partake in extracurricular events such as sport, cross country walking, or bush horse-riding, to challenge themselves and engage in conversation with a range of mentors. The program is designed to enhance academic progression and strengthen literacy and numeracy skills, while mentoring the girls onto greater heights of confidence, ambition and a brighter outlook for the future.


Church of All Nations Community Support ($15,000)


Provide homework, tutoring and literacy support to the many families and students from the local Carlton Housing Estates who attend the Church of All Nations (CAN) Community Support Family Learning Program. The majority of families and students involved come from the Horn of Africa who have limited access to literacy, computers and educational support.


In addition to these important initiatives, The Readings Foundation will also be providing ongoing support to our longstanding partnerships:


The Wheeler Centre ($20,000)

Since 2012, with significant support from The Readings Foundation, the Wheeler Centre has established the Hot Desk Fellowship Program, creating significant opportunities for talented writers. To date, 60 writers have had the opportunity to focus on their writing for ten weeks within the creative literary hub of the Wheeler Centre as a Hot Desk Fellow.

With the continued support of The Readings Foundation in 2015, the Wheeler Centre will offer 20 Hot Desk Fellowships for writers focusing on the genres of Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry, Drama and Young Adult. The Fellowships enable writers to pursue their writing at a dedicated desk at the Wheeler Centre for ten weeks.


HUSH Music Foundation ($5,000)

The HUSH Collection was started in 2003 by Dr Catherine Crock, a physician at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne in response to the needs of her young patients and their families. Catherine joined forces with Australia’s leading professional musicians who volunteered their time to create a collection of unique CDs to help calm and relax children and their parents during medical procedures.

After releasing 14 Classical/Jazz CD’s, Hush moves into a new field, with the release of The HUSH Treasure Book, a 48 page children’s book with stories & illustrations by some of Australia’s leading children’s book authors and illustrators. The Hush Treasure Book will be released in August 2015.


The Readings Foundation is also pleased to provide ongoing support to the Brotherhood of St Laurence by donating $5000 to their Home Interaction for Parents and Youngsters and $5000 to Sacred Heart Mission in St Kilda.


Find out more about the Readings Foundation or make a donation here.