One of our funding members received a special Certificate of Appreciation awarded by Judy Hannan MP - Member for Wollondilly in recognition of the services provided to the community through Reading Friends Australia - thanks to the organisation's "efforts, more children are learning to read, and literacy in the community is improving."
December 2024
The Blue Boxes program has reached another milestone this year with 5,000 children's books being distributed to schools and other charities. All books were pre-loved and in excellent condition with several being brand new.
December 2024
Our team of over 80 Reading Helpers have provided over 2,000 hours of reading assistance to primary children in public schools across New South Wales this school year. While every volunteer can read with up to 5 students per hour, it is estimated that at least 8,000 one-on-one reading sessions have been delivered.
Volunteers assist children selected by teachers with their reading practice during school hours.
December 2024
RFA attends Lilac City Festival
We are grateful to the friendly organisers of the Goulburn Lilac City Festival for offering RFA the opportunity to hold a stall in Belmore Park. Our volunteers had a wonderful day meeting some lovely people, promoting our services to the local community and working out ways for future collaboration with other associations.
In between all this, funds were raised and over 600 children's books were distributed to local children, including 155 donated to the Rotary Club of Goulburn for their upcoming Book Fair and 150 set aside for the students at Goulburn North PS.
October 2024
Oxley College Raises Funds for RFA
The Junior School students at Oxley College, lead by Captain Lucy, organised an incredible book swap, raising over $300. Over 500 leftover books were also donated to Reading Friends Australia to distribute to less fortunate children.
Together, we're writing a story of compassion and community spirit!
July 2024
We were both humbled and surprised to receive a substantial donation from the Rotary Club of Moss Vale to help us cover the organisation's running costs. The Club "is very proud to support Reading Friends Australia, in striving to secure constant and consistent support to local children".
July 2024
RFA attends Volunteer Expo in Goulburn
Reading in schools? That sounds interesting! Our Volunteers had a great time socialising with members of the community and other local organisations while describing our services and why they are important. It was a very successful day with over a dozen new applications. Our appreciation goes to Goulburn Mulwaree Council and the Library for hosting such a valuable event, at no cost.
June 2024
RFA endorsed as a Deductible Gift Recipient
RFA has been endorsed with DGR1 status which will allow the organisation to issue tax deductible receipts for every donation made. The Board is delighted with this achievement and hopes that it will boost donations.
April 2024
RFA recognised as a Public Benevolent Institution
A Public Benevolent Institution is a type of charitable institution which is conducted for the relief of poverty, sickness, destitution, helplessness, suffering, misfortune, disability or distress.
This subtype of charitable status is endorsed by the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission and the Australian Taxation Office.
In our particular case, this acknowledgment sanctions the connection between literacy skills - the ability to be able to read and write independently - with the relief of poverty and distress in the long term. Helping children now means to give them the chance to grow into skilled, confident adults with the prospect of a stable, healthy and secure life.
March 2024
We had the privilege to present RFA to the Deputy Director of the NSW Office for Regional Youth, and to representatives of Goulburn Mulwaree Council Youth Services and PCYC.
It was an opportunity to demonstrate and appreciate how much the organisation has grown thanks to the funding received under the Children and Young People Wellbeing Initiative project jointly funded by the Commonwealth and the NSW Government (Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements).
The number of volunteers and children helped has skyrocketed, and the joy brought about by this new model of community engagement is really remarkable.
July 2023