Beneficiaries in 2022

We raised more than $1.3 million for key beneficiaries: Schools Plus, Rural Aid and Outback Futures, along with other, smaller recipients.

Schools Plus

Schools Plus exists to help close the education gap caused by disadvantage.

They work with teachers and schools in disadvantaged areas to empower them with funding, coaching and resources to implement initiatives that will help their students succeed.

Up to half of all students in very remote areas are behind in key educational milestones for their age.

The six projects Big Dry Friday supported in 2022 were:

Walcha Central School, NSW – improving student learning outcomes by engaging a paediatric occupational therapy service provider to build staff capacity and deliver school-based early intervention programs
Holy Family Catholic School, NT – a literacy intervention project designed to support older readers (Years 5 and 6) who require specific instruction in decoding skills to help them become fluent readers.
South Hedland Primary School, WA – introducing InitiaLit, an evidence-based whole-class literacy program to help kids become successful readers and writers
Tara Shire State College, Qld – project focused on building cultural understanding among students and staff and enhancing students’ leadership capacity.
Casterton Primary School, VIC – addressing low student morale, motivation and engagement in school through practical and hands-on learning activities.
Lock Area School, SA - connecting curriculum to the local area to increase student engagement through authentic learning experiences (eg students will connect with local agricultural personnel to explore sustainable farming techniques)

View more detail

Rural Aid

Rural Aid is Australia’s most trusted rural charity. It provides critical support to farmers affected by natural disaster through wellbeing and fodder assistance.

In 2022, floods of unprecedented proportions impacted huge parts of the country.

The generosity of BDF donors enabled Rural Aid to provide a much-needed hand up for hundreds of farming families across Southern Queensland, NSW and Victoria.

For the majority, it was through a pre-paid visa card to be used how best met their individual needs - but almost always used in their local community.

For others it was access to fodder, while flood-affected pastures recovered. These events are much more than an opportunity to pick up some bales of hay – they bring people together, and with this social connection comes healing.

For others still it was a water tank – a replacement for the one swept away. Our work on farms at Eugowra, Kerang and the Northern Rivers has repeatedly highlighted that producers still need our help and are far from being back on their feet.

Thank you again for your support.

Outback Futures

Outback Futures is a not-for-profit organisation committed to long-term, intergenerational change in mental health and wellbeing outcomes for our outback children, families and communities.

Through early intervention, Outback Futures is helping to set kids up for healthier, happier, more productive lives. In the example of speech therapy, clinical support improves not only their speech ability, but also their self-confidence. Remote children have the same incidence of mental health, but are 60 percent less likely to receive therapy to combat the issue.

Funding from BDF 2022 enabled Outback Futures to increase clinical capacity in the Cloncurry region of Queensland and complete dozens of individual sessions, group workshops and community engagement activities. They have grown their team to include a region lead, psychologist, speech pathologist ad occupational therapist.

During 2023, the focus will be on growing service delivery in the kindergarten, and State and Catholic schools to reach as many children as possible either one-on-one or through workshops.

Other Beneficiaries

Rural Doctors Foundation is a rural health charity giving people in rural and remote regions better access to lifesaving healthcare. As rural doctors and community members, they care deeply about the places where they live and work – from the most remote outback regions to pristine coastal areas and bustling rural farming districts.

The doctors often find that their “job” does not finish when they leave their hospital or practice. They are frequently on call for emergency situations such as road or farm accidents. However, many lack the correct equipment – particularly if it is 3am.

Generous donations from Big Dry Friday enabled the Rural Doctors Foundation to expand its program of providing rural doctors with a specialised trauma kits known as Sandpiper bags. These bags are stocked with the essential supplies to enable doctors to respond quickly at the scene of an accident or serious illness.

Each doctor can keep the kits in their vehicle or at the front door – ready to respond quickly. Those few minutes could mean the difference between life and death. The kits, which cost approximately $3000 each, are in a large back pack and so are easily transportable if the accident site is not accessible by car.

Rural Doctors Foundation

Teacher workforce shortages in Queensland, and Australia more broadly are a well-documented challenging issue with immediate and pressing concern particularly in regional, rural and remote (RRR) areas. There is a need to expose teacher education students in urban areas to opportunities in these locations during their course and professional placement experience to enhance employment outcomes.

A significant barrier to participation in these programs is the cost associated with travelling to and living in a RRR location for the period of the professional placement experience.

Funds raised from Big Dry Friday 2022 went towards 4 x $5000 bursaries for final year QUT students (fourth year Bachelor of Education and second year Master of Teaching) to support professional experience teaching placements and improve educational outcomes in regional settings (early childhood setting, primary school, or secondary school).

These placements are for four weeks and will commence in May 2023. Once completed, a further $5000 will be awarded to one of the four bursary winners should they accept a position in a regional, rural, or remote school upon graduation.

One of the recipients shared this acknowledgement and thank you message upon receiving their bursary:

"I wish there were words to describe the immense impact this news has on my upcoming professional experience, and my career start as a pre-service teacher. I would like to say a huge thank you... It is with pure delight and gratitude that I accept the Morgans Financial Ltd Regional and Rural Teaching Bursary. Again, I wish I could better express the positive impact this will have on my studies and career."

Rural and Regional Teaching Bursaries

Where there's a Will

Where there's a Will is a community-led and funded charity focused on supporting delivery of programs and skills to increase community wellbeing and improve mental health in the Upper Hunter, NSW.

The funds donated from 2022 will be used to help 20 students attend the Student Led Wellbeing Conference in Sydney in June and then return to the Upper Hunter and deliver their own Student Led Wellbeing Conference to Year 10 and 11 students.

Madalah

MADALAH is a not-for-profit organisation that provides opportunities for Indigenous students from remote and regional communities to attend Western Australia’s leading boarding schools and universities from around Australia.

Funds from Big Dry Friday 2022 enabled students to attend the Year 7 Camp over two days at Pont Walter in February 2023. Students participated in a series of team building activities including high ropes, orienteering, mixed sports and flying fox, and formed new friendships along the way.

NTP Kalgoorlie

Ngunytju Tjitji Pirni (NTP) is an Aboriginal Medical Service (AMS) with the aim of providing a ‘safe track to good health’ for Aboriginal women and their children.

Located in Kalgoorlie, it was developed to address the high rates of premature death, and illness in Aboriginal women and children in WA.

NTP provides a community-owned facility staffed by Aboriginal Health Workers using culturally appropriate methods and resources delivered to Aboriginal women and children in their home environment.

Funds from Big Dry Friday 2022 enabled NTP to perform vital building upgrades and reopen the building which had been closed since August 2015. A special thanks to MLG Oz and the Morgans West Perth team for working with NTP on this project.