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Despite the challenges of the last 18 months - severe drought, catastrophic bushfires and then the COVID 19 pandemic, the Shaw and Partners Foundation continued to meet the ever-changing conditions and needs of the community. The core approach of empowering our advisers and staff to engage in a variety of fundraising activities with a focus across three broad areas; mental health, education and social inclusion, was largely preserved. In addition, a responsive and flexible attitude led to a shift in the approach to donations, with the weight and consensus of the Shaw and Partners community behind the Bushfire Appeal, and more company-wide fundraising events taking place in a “lockdown” environment.

The Shaw and Partners Foundation corpus has continued to grow and now stands in excess of $1,000,000 offering a sustainable base from which the Shaw and Partners Foundation will be able to utilise its investment returns for dollar matching, across a broad range of staff led fundraising events on an ongoing basis.

Since the Shaw and Partners Foundation’s inception in the second half of 2015, over $3.8 million has been raised for charitable causes from the combined efforts of Shaw and Partners advisers, staff, management, board, clients and other supporters. The second half of 2019 saw charities including the Leukaemia Foundation (City2Surf ), Children’s Medical Research Foundation (Jeans for Genes Day), Oxfam Australia (100km Trailwalker), Cure Brain Cancer (Noosa Triathlon) and Apex Foundation (Outback Postie Ride) supported via event based fundraising in the Shaw and Partners community.

Following the devastating bushfires, at the end of January 2020, staff and management rallied together to champion a major donation using Foundation’s reserves in the form of a grant of $200,000 which was earmarked for charities involved with bushfire relief and assistance. Shaw and Partners staff and management voted to determine which eight charities received a donation of $25,000 each with Rural Aid, The Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal, NSW Rural Fire Service, Blaze Aid, Koala Conservation Australia, Wildlife Rescue of SA, WIRES and Wildlife Rescue NSW South Coast were the lucky eight.

The Cancer Council was supported in June 2020 via participation across Shaw and Partners State offices in “Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea”. Cakes and other treats prepared at home by staff were then distributed on the day, whilst observing strict social distancing, and over $6,450 was raised for Cancer Council. Also in June, the Brisbane office came together and raised funds for MS Queensland despite the cancellation of the usual cycling event due to COVID. The Foundation matched the impressive $7,500 raised by the Brisbane office.

In September 2020, Shaw and Partners proudly celebrated five years of the Shaw and Partners Foundation. Following a week of fundraising events and celebrations, the Shaw and Partners Foundation raised and donated an incredible $819,100 to Australian micro charities across the country.

The Shaw and Partners Foundation continues to be driven by its advisers, staff and management in supporting endeavours that they are passionate about, and where there is a relative lack of government funding, and the key areas of mental health, education and social inclusion are emphasised. Despite the impediments encountered over this past year, the mantra of “Have fun. Live life. Give back.” was still embraced by the Foundation and its supporters.

On behalf of the committee, I would like to express a particular thanks to all the Shaw and Partners staff, advisers, management, board and Shaw clients who maintained their support in what was a very challenging year for many.

Cameron Duncan
Shaw and Partners Foundation Chairman

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