2020 Grants

Australian Wildlife Conservancy

Project: Bushfire Response on Kangaroo Island
Grant amount: $40,000

As a result of catastrophic bushfires across south east Australia in the summer of 2019/20, the Kangaroo Island Dunnart now is considered Australia’s most endangered mammal. With more than 95% of the dunnart’s habitat obliterated, surviving individuals were left extremely vulnerable without access to food or adequate shelter to hide from feral cats (who are known to travel extensively to recent fire scars to prey on surviving animals). AWC swiftly deployed a team to locate and trap surviving dunnarts and place them in the safety of a secure area, providing essential food and protection from predators. Together with our partners, we completed the construction of a critical refuge (13.8 ha) and are now constructing the larger Western River Refuge (370 ha) to provide a feral predator-free haven in which the remaining dunnarts can re-establish their population without the threat of feral cats and foxes. The refuge will also support a further six threatened species.

BackTrack Youth Works

Project: The Dam Natural Resource Management Project
Grant Amount: $65,200

BackTrack keeps kids alive, out of jail and chasing their hopes and dreams. Guided by a long-term, flexible and holistic approach to youth work, we help young people reconnect to their community, engage with education and training, get work-ready and find jobs.

The Capricorn Foundation is supporting BackTrack to launch a hands-on program that will give 15+ young people practical skills and accredited training in natural resource management. Over 12 months, participants will design and implement activities that can protect and enhance the habitat of native, endangered birds, animals and vegetation on BackTrack’s property in Armidale. This interactive training opportunity enables young people to learn vocational and soft skills, actively contribute to their community and ensure that vulnerable plant and animal species are safe, sustainable and thriving.

Children’s Ground

Project: Ampe-kenhe Ahelhe (Children’s Ground)
Grant Amount: $50,000

Children’s Ground works within a community over a 25-year period to support First Nations people to address issues that perpetuate disadvantage including lack of access to education and employment opportunities. It builds on the ability, strength and culture of the communities of the First Nations people.

The Children’s Ground approach involves wrap around support and activities across 5 platform areas: Learning & Wellbeing, Health & Wellbeing, Community Development & Wellbeing, Economic Development & Wellbeing and Creative & Cultural Development & Wellbeing.

The Capricorn Foundation is supporting early childhood learning in a towncamp outside of Alice Springs as well as work creating employment opportunities for community members to gain experience as educators.

Climate Council

Project: Cities Power Partnership
Grant Amount: $25,000

The Climate Council is Australia’s leading climate communications organisation. Our mission is to be a courageous catalyst propelling Australia towards bold, effective action to tackle the climate crisis.

The Capricorn Foundation is supporting our project, the Cities Power Partnership (CPP), the largest climate program for local councils in Australia with 125+ members. The CPP seeks to accelerate climate action at the local level by supporting members to implement climate solutions initiatives across renewable energy, energy efficiency and sustainable transport. We encourage councils to work collaboratively to reduce barriers to climate action and celebrate their achievements in the media.

Climateworks Australia within the Monash Sustainable Development Institute

Project: Land Use Futures
Grant Amount: $90,000

Co-founded by The Myer Foundation and Monash University in 2009, ClimateWorks is a non-profit working within the Monash Sustainable Development Institute. They bridge research and action to achieve the system-level transitions required for net zero emissions, across Australia, SE Asia and Pacific in alignment with the Paris Agreement.

The world faces an enormous challenge to sustainably provide healthy food for a projected 9.8 billion people by 2050. With the support of the Capricorn Foundation, ClimateWorks’ Land Use Futures program convenes stakeholders from across sectors, creating a national vision for sustainable food and land use that considers economic, climate, environmental and human health outcomes.

FareShare

Project: Teaming Up to Cook 250,000 More Free, Nutritious Meals
Grant Amount: $35,000

Access to healthy food is fundamental, without it a person’s physical and mental health are impacted. FareShare exists to rescue surplus food that would otherwise go to waste and cook free, so that Australians in need can have access to nutritious meals.

Each week FareShare cooks 40,000 nutritious meals from its Melbourne kitchen making a meaningful difference to the growing number of marginalised Australians struggling to put healthy food on the table. Though FareShare is not the only food rescue charity. Rather than recreate the wheel, FareShare has partnered with Second Bite to supply all the ingredients required to cook an extra 10,000 meals each week which can be distributed to community groups in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania.

Funding from the Capricorn Foundation has contributed to FareShare hiring and training a new chef to manage this increased supply.

Farmers for Climate Action

Project: Climate Smart Communities – Farm Outreach
Grant Amount: $70,000

Support from the Capricorn Foundation allows Farmers for Climate Action to build a distributed network of farmers across regional Victoria. We will establish local farmer groups across the state and support them to deliver projects that support their communities to be sustainable in the face of changing climate. This is the pilot of our Climate-Smart Communities program, which provides farmers and rural Australians with the support and networks to provide communities of support in the face of drought, bushfire, floods and other extreme weather events.

Farmers for Climate Action is supported through a grant to the Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal.

Greenpeace Australia Pacific

Project: ASX100 Greenpeace campaign
Grant Amount: $35,000

Ensuring Australia’s largest energy users switch from fossil fuels to renewables is a critical component of Greenpeace Australia Pacific’s long-term goal to drive the transition to 100% renewable energy in Australia by 2025.

In late 2019, Greenpeace launched an ASX 100 corporate engagement campaign, ReEnergise, calling on big businesses to leave coal, oil and gas in the past and transition to 100% renewable energy.

Greenpeace’s goal is that 20% of ASX 100-listed companies will have committed to buying 100% clean energy, by 2025. And it has already had success: Telstra (Australia’s largest telecommunications company) announced in March 2020 it would make the switch, committed to become carbon neutral (from 2020) and to reducing their total emissions by up to 50% (by 2030).

Planet Ark

Project: The Seedling Bank
Grant Amount: $60,000

Planet Ark works with individuals, community groups, governments, organisations and businesses for positive environmental action. The campaign it is most well known for is National Tree Day (“NTD”) which has been run since 1996 encouraging school students to plant trees.
In 2018 200,000 people took part in NTD.

The Capricorn Foundation supported ‘The Seedling Bank’ which is a program providing funding for disadvantaged schools and community groups to participate in NTD. This program has the dual purpose of increasing the number of trees in the ground, and empowering communities to be part of regenerative activities they may have missed out on.

Stars Foundation

Project: In-school mentoring and empowerment programs in Northern Territory
Grant Amount: $75,000

Stars Foundation supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander girls and young women to attend school, complete Year 12 and move into full-time work or further study.

The program model is based on strong, trusting relationships. The Stars Room is a warm, welcoming environment – a place where young women feel safe, nurtured and inspired.

Stars provides a diverse range of activities to support First Nations girls and young women to develop the self-esteem, confidence and life skills they need to successfully participate in school and transition into a positive and independent future.

STREAT

Project: Thyme Out
Grant Amount: $240,000 over three years

STREAT works to create healthy people and a healthy planet by working to ensure that homeless and disadvantaged young people aged 16-24 years are thriving in all parts of their lives.

Over 40% of the young people who participate in STREAT programs have had contact with the justice system and a grant was provided to STREAT to expand the support for these young people both within Parkville and Malmsbury juvenile justice centres and to develop more targeted interventions to support young people to exit the justice system. Primarily this is occuring through the STREAT café in Parkville.

With Capricorn Foundation’s support STREAT will expand their youth team, undertake outreach activities to high risk youth people with local police services, and work intensively with agencies that are involved in early intervention and prevention of youth disengagement.

The Man Cave

Project: General Support
Grant Amount: $89,780

The Man Cave empowers boys to become great men by providing them and their communities with impactful programs, role models and resources.

They address issues such as Mental Health, Gender Inequality, Hyper Masculine Identity, Inter- generational connection by providing youth programs, Parent & Guardian trainings, Teacher professional development, community events, university college programs and thought leadership.

The Man Cave’s goal is that every man has healthy relationships, makes a contribution to his community and reaches his full potential.

The Capricorn Foundation’s support was provided to help identify, accelerate and support male role models to plan and execute projects that promote healthy and masculinity in rural and regional communities. Due to COVID-19’s impact on the community the Capricorn Foundation have untied this funding to be used for wherever it was needed most.