Author: Angela Pickett

Blake Brennand has just been awarded the 2023 Kicking Goals Scholarship through Foundation Barossa.

Blake, a year 11 student from Nuriootpa High’s Inclusive Education Centre, aspires to gain employment when he finishes school as a tradesman, and in the future have his own business/self-employment. Blake is currently completing Certificate II in Construction to gain a better understanding of each trade area before he decides which one is the best. For Blake, an important part of the scholarship is the opportunity to be mentored by John Hughes.

John has slight Cerebral Palsy and has always wanted to put together a scholarship that enables a student with a disability to go further. The Kicking Goals Scholarship is designed to take a student in the Barossa region further into education, with the ultimate goal being employment. “I would value the mentoring and the chance to have someone to talk to with career advice and being a young adult beginning the next chapter of life after school,” said Blake.

Outside of school Blake’s determination to succeed is also clear and has impressively competed in The Special Olympics in bowling, soccer, and basketball.

“Blake is a very impressive young man”, said John Hughes, “Blake performs well at school, and has been acknowledged with both academic and personal development awards at school. I am very much looking forward to mentoring Blake, helping him create opportunities for an apprenticeship where he can be on-the-job learning, and seeing him further develop his interests in the construction industry.

Blake had put a lot of work into his interview and came ready to answer questions with a PowerPoint he had prepared.  “I think Blake may end up mentoring me!”, added John.

Barossa Village received a grant through Foundation Barossa’s Peter Lehmann Arts & Education Trust to document and record the histories of some of the Barossa Village Residents.

Each of the residents at Barossa Village has a unique story to tell and has shaped our region into what we know today. Barossa Village partnered with Christian Teusner from the Emu Tree to create a unique oral and visual history project focusing on 10 residents from the Barossa Village Aged Care Facility who grew up and lived their lives in the Barossa Valley. The Barossa Value Elders project objective was to capture, preserve and create awareness of the histories and stories of these individuals.

In addition to the oral history component, a graphic designer was engaged to collate images of the Resident’s lives and capture and present these in a way that visually represented who they are and their lived experiences.

“It is an absolute privilege to share in people’s stories”, said Matt Kowald, General Manager of Barossa Village. “It’s why a lot of us work in aged care. Barossa Village wants to preserve these stories for future generations so they can understand how people lived. Oral histories give us the chance to preserve a person’s voice which is often the first thing we forget when people are gone”.

One of the residents included in the Oral Histories is 87-year-old Glenda Schultz who talks about growing up in Keyneton with 12 siblings. Glenda remembers the first baby born in the Tanunda Hospital where she worked as 1 of 5 of the first trainee nurses. “It was a 14- bed hospital at that time, Matron Tscharke was a wonderful Matron”.

87-year old Elizabeth Mueller, a Seppeltsfield girl also reflects on her early memories as a Marananga Primary School student during WWII saying “I remember my first kiss, I know exactly where it was, under the pine tree at Marananga school”.

Foundation Barossa was thrilled to support these oral histories and preserve a diverse range of personal experiences that generally are not well documented in written sources or traditional history. Their personal nature makes them a great primary source for people wanting to discover more about a certain event or era, providing an insight into the impact events had on the people alive and involved. Sadly, since they were recorded two of the residents involved have passed away so these recordings also provide an important and heartwarming legacy for the families of the residents ensuring their voices and stories are preserved for future generations.

The artworks containing QR code links to the recordings now adorn the walls of the Barossa Village Residence. The moving audio stories are also available to download or listen to free at https://thewaywewere.podbean.com/.

The Peter Lehmann Arts and Education Trust (PLAET) fosters arts and cultural learning opportunities and access. It provides grants for arts, culture, and education projects in the Barossa. Foundation Barossa oversees the administration of the trust with an Advisory Committee, including members of the Lehmann family.

“One of the most enduring memories I have of traveling around the Barossa with Dad was the oral commentary that recounted the landmarks, events, and people who wove the tapestry of our region’s past. Looking back, I wish we’d had the foresight to record this oral history for my kids to know. So, capturing forever the small, all too easily overlooked pieces of local history as told by those who have lived it is incredibly important for both the families of those who tell their tales but also for future generations of our region too”, said David Lehmann.

12 August 2022

Samual Hayes and Felix Lobegeiger are the 2022 recipients of the Barossa Bands scholarships. The aim of the Scholarship is to enable and promote the tuition of young, talented musicians.  Foundation Barossa awards these annual scholarships in collaboration with the Nuriootpa and Marananga Town Bands.

The scholarships provide $750 for travel, tuition, uniforms, instrument purchase, or hire. More importantly, the recipients are mentored by a local community band.

Nuriootpa High School student, Felix is looking to buy some new drumsticks and an electronic drum kit with an amp for sound.

For Kapunda High Student Samual, the scholarship will allow him to buy his own French Horn and continue lessons in each of his instruments (trumpet, French horn and tenor drum)

Music is a creative outlet for Samual who has autism. When asked what the scholarship would mean Samual replied “ Music means I can blow out all my hot air with trumpet and practice control with French horn and bang out with tenor drum. It helps me feel calm. It’s fun and a challenge and I really enjoy it.”

The Barossa Bands Scholarship was launched in 2015 following the closure of the Barossa Junior Brass Band. Each year up to two scholarships are awarded to students in years 7 to 10. The Barossa Band Scholarship fund is open to receive further contributions through fundraising, donations or bequests.  Donations to this fund are tax-deductible.

23 September 2022

Foundation Barossa is excited to announce Thomas Geyer as the 2022 recipient of the Elderton Winemaking Scholarship.

Thomas is in the fourth year of a Bachelor of Viticulture and Oenology at the University of Adelaide, having completed the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program in 2017.

“I first entered the industry in the Barossa Valley in 2018 while working in a vineyard for Paul Georgiadis at Paulmara Estates in Marananga. I’ve worked in this vineyard consistently since starting, alongside working as a distiller at Seppeltsfield Road Distillers, assisting on and off during vintage at Hemera Estate, and I have also completed a vintage at First Drop Wines this year.

I believe the Barossa is a region that not only formed the bedrock of the Australian wine industry, but also has the potential to pioneer the next generation of wines and varieties as they come to prominence. This emergence of new styles and varieties is something I wish to be a part of, and I feel that the Barossa can be the place to do it

I’m very grateful to have received the Elderton Winemaking Excellence Scholarship, and am excited to begin my mentorship program and learn as much as I can from the whole team at Elderton, I’m truly thankful to be accepting this opportunity to extend my education.”

Elderton Wines established the scholarship in 2015 to support a student to pursue a career in winemaking.

‘Thomas was the standout applicant for this year’s scholarship.  He is proudly Barossan and extremely wine passionate.  We are very much looking forward to him working at Elderton for Vintage 22,’ said Cameron Ashmead, Co-Managing Director of Elderton Wines.

Foundation Barossa is proud to announce Tracey Noack is the 2022 Dr Ben Baker Memorial Scholarship Fund recipient.

Foundation Barossa and the Angaston Medical Centre established the scholarship in 2020 to honour the memory of Dr Ben Baker.

‘The Dr Ben Baker Memorial Scholarship is a way of supporting students from our community to achieve their dreams and is one of the ways we remember Ben’s passion for rural health’ – Dr Adrian Griscti

The fund provides annual education scholarships to students studying human health. Applicants need to show academic capacity, financial need and the motivation to succeed.

Tracey is studying Nursing and Midwifery through Uni SA with the goal to be working in the Barossa region mainly as a midwife but with further education in Registered Nursing.

Tracey grew up on a farm in Moculta, moving to St Kitts when she got married 21 years ago. Tracey is a mother to seven children. Sadly, her eldest daughter was diagnosed with severe spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy and passed away nine years ago. Tracey had always dreamt of being a midwife, but as a full-time carer to her daughter, she never thought it would happen.

Tracey said “Studying Nursing and Midwifery at University was something I had previously never thought possible, but I have the opportunity to complete a degree that I had I had in the past only dreamt of doing. Along with the support of my husband and children, this Scholarship will help me fund some of the costs of studying externally. Being awarded this Scholarship has extra special meaning to it, as it was actually Dr. Ben that encouraged me to look further into making my dream a reality, and told me about the pathways that I coul take to gain entry into University. I am extremely grateful and honoured to have been given this wonderful opportunity.”

Through initiatives such as the Dr. Ben Baker Scholarship, Foundation Barossa responds to challenges and opportunities in our community. Dr. Ben’s colleagues and family hope the scholarship will remove some of the financial stress of studying health. They want to support another doctor or health professional to build community connections, as Dr. Ben did.

Foundation Barossa invests donor funds in perpetuity and distribute the interest each year as grants and scholarships. The capital remains intact, and the giving continues forever. This means the legacy of Dr Ben. will continue in support of students studying rural health in perpetuity.

“The impact Ben had on his patients and our community is proof of the amazing doctor he was. We’re all so proud of Ben’s achievements, so this scholarship means a lot to our family”. Paula Baker

Applications are now closed for the 2023 Kicking Goals Scholarship.

With the generous support of numerous local businesses, Foundation Barossa offer the Kicking Goals scholarship to students with a disability.

The scholarships assists with the final year/s of high school, and provides the student with financial assistance for further education or employment.

Read more about the Kicking Goals Scholarship here.

The Barossa Mag Summer 2022/23 edition recently featured a story on the recipients of the first Kids Under Cover studio funded by the Homburg Homelessness Prevention Fund.

You can read the article here (starting on page 44).

9 December 2022

The Back-to-School initiative is part of the Rural Education Australia Program. Foundation Barossa has partnered with the Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal (FRRR) since 2008 to provide these vouchers.

Back to School is a national program that helps remote and rural children and young people to engage in learning and strengthen their educational outcomes. Back to School provides $50 vouchers to be used for items such as school uniforms, clothing, shoes, school bags and stationery – or anything that helps students feel ready to learn.

24% of school-age children in the Barossa are on School Cards, which is considered a measure of economic disadvantage. This has been increasing steadily as we begin to see the impacts of the events of the last couple of years.

The vouchers are more than a $50 gift. This program is about social inclusion and resilience, building confidence and morale in disadvantaged children.

Next year we will have an unprecedented $38,500 in Back to School vouchers. This is due to the incredible generosity and support of FRRR and also our matched voucher Back to School partner, Barossa Real Estate. With this, we can provide 770 vouchers to Barossa families. The distribution of vouchers will be determined by the school welfare teachers.

“We hope our contribution helps those disadvantaged kids that not only face the day-to-day pressure of education and growing up but the additional peer pressure of being seemingly different due to circumstances outside of their control.” Sai Peter Fairweather of Barossa Real Estate.

In the program acquittal from one of the schools, the well-being teacher shared a story of a Year 11 student who had made the decision to leave her mum’s home and relocate to live with her grandfather to improve her chances of academic success. This meant moving to a new town and new school. Her grandfather was struggling to support her so the gift of the voucher allowed her to get some school supplies, a uniform, and bits and pieces. When she gave her the voucher, the student cried, asked if she could give her teacher a hug, and said no one had ever done anything that kind for her before.

We have a significant number of families living under financial pressure and many students who may have additional needs. Although $50 does not sound like much, being able to give families the gift of a voucher really helps children experience a sense of belonging. Being able to buy stationary, or a new pair of shoes, although that may seem small, can really make a difference to the life of a child.

“We still see huge need to continue to help families start their children off well-prepared for their learning years. The support of the FRRR program is truly valued, and their willingness to match locally donated funds with Barossa Real Estate has created an outstanding opportunity to boost the impact for local kids. Thanks to FRRR and Barossa Real Estate, this is such wonderful news on the back of another very challenging year for many in the community, we really appreciate the support you give to some of those who need it most,” said Annabelle Elton-Martin, Executive Officer Foundation Barossa.