On Wednesday, 19 February, staff from the WRL team had the privilege of attending the Clontarf Foundation’s Year 12 Leadership Morning Tea. It was an incredible opportunity to hear from these inspiring young men as they prepare for life beyond school.
WRL is proud to partner with Clontarf Foundation, supporting and advocating for students on their learning journeys, championing Clontarf’s life-changing programmes and creating and encouraging career opportunities for their bright futures.
The Foundation’s programmes are delivered through a network of Academies, each of which operates in partnership with
a school or college. Football is used to attract teenaged Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men to school and then keep them there. In order to remain in the programme, participants must continue to work at school and embrace the objectives of the Foundation. Academy staff mentor and counsel Academy members on a range of behavioural and lifestyle issues while the school caters for their specific educational needs.
The Foundation partners with organisations like Western Rock Lobster that have a shared belief in the value of long term investment in capacity building for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men which will result in benefits for the individual students as well as the local and broader community. As such, an important component of the partnership between the Foundation and WRL is the development of a strong relationship between the students, Academy staff, and the partners and communities who support the programme.
