Providing a brighter future for local students

The Country Education Foundation (CEF) Macleay Valley and Macleay Valley Vocational College have been given $35,200 and $250,000 to go towards supporting young people through their education after high school.

Chairperson of KATE, Terry Hunt, said the grants will help these two organisations continue to provide the support local students need.

"The committee came together and decided to award the funding to the Country Education Foundation and Vocational College because of the good work they do in the community," he said.

"We have always helped with scholarships for students since KATE started in the 1980s to help students with their tertiary education and by supporting other organisations in the community means we're still doing that."

Chairperson of CEF Macleay Valley, Terry Witchard, said the $35,200 will go towards supporting young people through their education.

"I'm blown away by the funding we have been given. There is a fundamental need for this support for kids in our area who can't afford to go to university or pursue tertiary education," he said.

CEF Macleay Valley fundraises throughout the year and accepts donations from local residents and businesses in order to provide financial grants to students who need an extra helping hand.

"Over the past year we have given close to $11,000 to local kids who need that support and the national body has given close to $30,000 through university partnerships," Mr Witchard said.

Principal of Macleay Valley Vocational College, Mark Morrison, said the $250,000 in funding the college received will go towards starting up programs for young people.

"We want to look at what KATE was when it was first established which was to create opportunities for local kids. We want this funding to be the starting point for programs at the college," he said.

"It will be seed funding for projects that will build employment skills for students and will work on building their inspirations for the future.

"It can be difficult to get these kids work ready and this funding will help us run programs that will help with that."

KATE secretary Jenny Sproule said the organisation will continue to support the education of local youth.

"By helping fund these programs and organisations in the community we are continuing to support young people in their education and that's our main goal," she said.