The SMSA has made the following grants to organisations that were both deserving and met the criteria that satisfied the SMSA’s values and objectives:
The Australian Seniors Computer Club Association (ASCCA) supports and encourages seniors to take advantage of modern IT through its 130 clubs and 150,000 members. The grant will be used to update materials for a range of existing courses (including Apple iPad, eBooks, MS Office, Facebook, Twitter and specialist topics such as Genealogy and Digital Photography) and to create original training materials for new technologies. http://ascca.org.au
The Dictionary preserves and publishes historical and cultural information about Sydney for the broadest possible audience. The grant will be used to employ a researcher to prepare educational material for both schools and the general public, allowing greater access to the Dictionary’s data. http://dictionaryofsydney.org
Established in 1890, the Julian Ashton Art School is Australia’s oldest continuous fine art school. Based in The Rocks, their former students include Sir William Dobell, John Olsen, Brett Whiteley, Thea Proctor and many other prominent Australian artists.
http://julianashtonartschool.com.au
The Scholars for 2016 (awarded in November 2015) are:
Children in foster care are, on average, 4 years behind their peers academically. The Pyjama Foundation works to give these children a better, brighter future by providing the child with a Pyjama Angel who visits them each week to read, play and build the child’s confidence. This grant will allow Pyjama Foundation to screen, train and match more volunteer Pyjama Angels to more children, thereby increasing their love of learning and their understanding of the importance of education and reading, which in turn improves the children’s results at school and their longer term opportunities. http://thepyjamafoundation.com
The National Council of Women (NSW) is a non-government umbrella organisation with broadly humanitarian and educational objectives. The grant has been used to fund National Council of Women (NSW) Australia Day Award scholarships for young women who are excelling in the field of science.
The 2015 recipients (to be presented in 2016) are:
Clifton School of Arts is an unfunded, stand-alone community facility. The grant was used towards development of a book to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Sea Cliff Bridge, including its construction and how the closure of Lawrence Hargrave Drive impacted on the welfare of the residents in its vicinity. The book The Bridge: A Sea Cliff Solution can be purchased from Clifton School of Arts and is also available for loan from the SMSA Library.
http://cliftonschoolofarts.org
The Footpath Library — $500
The Footpath Library gives away free books to homeless people living on the street via their mobile services, and through libraries they have installed and stock in hostels, refuges and community organisations in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth. This grant was used to provide books and materials for these libraries.
http://footpathlibrary.org
The SMSA continues to provide discounted rates for venue hire for qualifying Not-For-Profit and volunteer organisations. This has been a long-standing tradition which benefits both the SMSA and the organisations involved.
In years past, the Board of the Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts gave sums of money to the University of Sydney, the University of Technology, Sydney and the University of Western Sydney, providing an endowment for prizes to be awarded annually at these Universities. The following prizes were awarded for work in the 2014 academic year and presented in 2015:
Yuri Hospodar University of Technology, Sydney
Annette Simpson.
Laura Bowron
Rizwan Sahib
Joyce Al-Gharib
Adriano Res
Reece Armstrong
Rebekah Levingston
Sarah Watkins
The Grants Committee, chaired by Geoff Webb, met several times during the 2015 to review grant requests.
The Board has made the following grants to organisations that were both deserving and met the criteria that satisfied the SMSA’s values and objectives on the recommendation of the Grants Committee.
SMSA (Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts)