Author: Angela Pickett

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.

30 November 2022

Nuriootpa High School received a grant through the Peter Lehmann Arts & Education Trust to create a 75-square-metre collaborative mural within the school grounds. The project was also sponsored by Dulux, who provided high-quality exterior paint ensuring the longevity of the mural will occur.

The design and painting of the mural were completed by a student working party, professional artist Lucinda Penn, and the Student Representative Council. The working group connected with past scholars of the school at Barossa Village. Students from the school’s Inclusive Education Centre and ATSI (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island) group were also involved in the process. Combining the perspectives of these students with other members of the community provided a broad perspective of the cultural and historic fabric that makes up Nuriootpa High School.

The students were asked to consider what being a student of Nuriootpa High meant to them, the values of the school, and the connection of the school to the wider community when considering the design of the wall was based around.

Key themes that can be seen highlighted in the beautiful mural include kindness, diversity, respect, learning, connections, opportunity, and meeting place.

“Receiving the Peter Lehmann Arts Trust Grant is really important for the school. The Student Represented Council wanted to create a mural around the school to improve the facilities and promote the positive aspects of the school and the Barossa region. With the funding received, we were able to facilitate a student lead mural which they designed and painted with a professional artist”. said Arlon Hall, Art Teacher & SRC Manager, at Nuriootpa High School

Established in 2014, The Peter Lehmann Arts and Education Trust (PLAET) fosters arts and cultural learning opportunities and access. It provides grants for arts, culture, and Page | 2

education projects in the Barossa. Foundation Barossa oversees the administration of the trust with an Advisory Committee, including members of the Lehmann family.

“Nuriootpa High School was a very important institution to all of us,” said Philip Lehmann. “ My brother Dave and I were both matriculating students from there in the 90’s, and Mum an English teacher in the 70’s. We were all captivated by the mural proposal by the SRC students, and what a ripper idea to lift that drab but functional building with some thought-provoking art and colour, and to “to sustain and nurture the culture within the school with the wider Barossa community”. Plus the ‘before’ photo is just how I remember it from 30 years ago. Time for a facelift..”

Nuriootpa High School has a long and proud history within the Barossa and the project is important to sustain and nurture the culture within the school with the wider Barossa community. The preservation of knowledge and culture of the school has been achieved through the multiple generation perspectives told through the mural.

The mural will be used as a tool to communicate the culture of the school to current students and future generations.

21 October 2022

The Foundation Barossa Youth Council is an annual program for school students to inspire and help shape the future of our community.

The Youth Council Program provides the students called the Youth Ambassadors, the opportunity to have a say about local issues, learn new skills, have fun and develop a closer connection to their community. The program gives the Ambassadors exposure to community issues and opportunities to take up responsibilities, contribute to solutions and ultimately, make a difference in their community.

Darcy McBride, Reeve Waples, and Tom Wohlers from Tanunda Primary School & Disability Unit and Emily Fear and Anthony Bombardieri from Nuriootpa High School were this year’s Ambassadors. Last Tuesday they presented their recommendations on this year’s Community Grant applications to the Foundation Barossa Board

The Foundation Barossa Community Grants support community-based projects throughout the Barossa region. The projects assisted address key needs, building community strength, and finding collaborative solutions to community problems.

The Youth Council recommended the following projects which were unanimously endorsed for funding by the Board.

A grant for Centacare Youth Homelessness, which addresses the key needs of people experiencing homelessness in the Barossa region- shelter, warmth, and capacity to cook food and heat water. The grant will provide sleeping swags for young people who are ‘rough sleeping’, couch surfing packs, and packs for people sleeping in cars.

A Sammy D Foundation grant that had been put forward by Dr. Bill Gransbury on behalf of Angaston Football Club. The Sammy D Foundation educates young people on the impacts of bullying and drug and alcohol-fuelled violence. By providing relevant age-appropriate knowledge and tools, young people are empowered to make positive life decisions.

A ‘Rewilding’ grant for Barossa Wildlife Rescue would like to provide education and engagement opportunities to connect local youth to local wildlife. Barossa Wildlife will develop and implement a pilot program targeted at high school students which: – educates students about local wildlife and what makes them so unique and valuable – educates students about the threats to native ecosystems, and what they can do to address these – educates students about how to respond to injured wildlife and provides opportunities to interact with and care for wildlife. Page | 2

A grant for Tanunda Primary Disability Unit for a bubble machine & boom box to allow for inclusive play for non-mobile students.

Lastly, a grant was also awarded to the Southern Business Alliance for a ‘How to Adult’ pilot. This will targets school leavers or younger persons transitioning from home to employment/tertiary study to attend a short course under the dual themes of “how to adult” to teach practical skills to support this transition and contribute to identifying the future Youth Facility and Services needs in the Barossa. Examples of the course will include areas such as: what is superannuation? how does tax work? how volunteering pays (skills and connection), basic budgeting, etc.

“We were incredibly impressed and inspired by the work of the Youth Council this year. The Ambassadors gave articulate and compelling presentations that were insightful and well thought through. It is a privilege for the Board to be able to listen to the voice of the youth in our community and to be able to see issues through their lens and experience. and see them be part of the solution for solving”, said Annabelle Elton-Martin, Executive Officer, Foundation Barossa.