With the cost of living on the rise and more families experiencing financial hardship our Back To School program is seeing an influx of new referrals.
Calls from desperate parents contacting the foundation in need for assistance in getting their children back to school have spiked by 63% since 2020.
Our Founder, Les Twentyman stated throughout years of running the program, he has never before seen demand quite like what we are experiencing currently “In the 34 years we have been running the Back To School program we have never seen it as financially difficult as it is today for parents to get their kids to school.”.
Through his decades of experience as a Youth Worker, Mr Twentyman has seen firsthand the negative impact that a lack of education has on young people’s futures “Adult prisons are filled with people who have failed to complete Year 12 and lack of education is a driving cause behind homelessness and poverty.”. Twentyman further expressed the importance of ensuring young people have access to the full range of classroom supplies they need to complete their journey through the education system “The best way we can help kids is to ensure that all have equal access to education and there is no excuse in a modern wealthy society such as Australia that the cost of education should prevent any child from study.”.
Our CEO, Paul Burke further expressed concern with the growing cost of sending a child to school and the heartbreak involved when the foundation’s resources are exhausted “We are seeing more and more families needing help every year and it breaks the heart of all of us at the Foundation when we are forced to turn families away as we do not have the resources to help everyone.”.
Stay at home Father of four David Glenny spoke of his appreciation towards the Les Twentyman Foundation and how our programs have positively impacted his family “The Les Twentyman Foundation has been a godsend and we have so much gratitude for their support, and I do not know how we would have coped without them.”.
Every child regardless of economic circumstances deserves the right to an education and we will continue to work tirelessly to ensure we can help as many children as possible to return to the classroom for the 2023 school year.
Being a donor-funded program, we would like to sincerely thank everyone who has contributed and supported ‘Back To School’. Each and every one of you has made a real difference in the lives of hundreds of children from socially disadvantaged families who would otherwise be going to school without the correct textbooks and classroom supplies.
HERALD SUN ARTICLE: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/victoria-education/hundreds-of-families-desperate-for-charities-back-to-school-support/news-story/5706884021203ce0c5df7a8b414a20de