General News
21 June, 2025
CEF set to help more students across the region with Inspire Grant
The Country Education Foundation of Australia (CEF) is set to help more students across the central west and beyond after receiving a $300,000 Inspire Grant from the St George, BankSA, and Bank of Melbourne Foundations.
Announced last month, the windfall will directly benefit students in 49 rural and regional communities where the non-profit has local foundations based, including Gilgandra, Narromine, Nyngan, Gulargambone, and Orange in the central west.
With the 49 local foundations run by volunteers in their communities, CEF supports young Australians in those areas to pursue further education, training or employment.
Now in its 32nd year of operation, the organisation was invited to apply for the Inspire Grants and was thrilled to be one of five successful applicants for a grant pool totalling $1.2 million.
The other recipients included the Go Foundation, EPIC Pathways, Australian Business Community Network Scholarship Foundation, and Skyline Education Foundation.
CEF CEO Wendy Mason said the granting bodies recognised the importance of equity for rural and regional students, and the work her organisation does in this space. “They have identified that the work we do is impactful and we’re really delighted to be successful in being one of the [grant] recipients,” Ms Mason told this journalist.
The grant will assist CEF with a number of initiatives over the next three years which will help to support the network of 49 local foundations and expand their support to more young people from across regional Australia to help them reach their full potential. “In 2025 we’re going to be supporting more than 800 students across Australia, through our network of nearly 50 foundations,” Ms Mason explained.
“The funding that we receive will go to supporting the work that we do and to support students directly as well,” she added.
“CEF started in 1993 and has grown so much since then. Young people aged 16 to 25 really deserve an opportunity to access further education and training,” Ms Mason said.
“Sometimes there are barriers to young people in rural and regional areas, and so our organisation attempts to address those barriers really through providing funding, but also a whole lot of support, both at that local level and through our student support programs that we run nationally as well,” she concluded.
Students interested in the activities of their local foundation should reach out to CEF for further information.
