Josh Wilson (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm really delighted today to speak on the 10-year anniversary of Impact100 Freemantle—an innovative, philanthropic endeavour operated by the Fremantle Foundation and sustained by hundreds of generous and engaged donors in my community. Established as a community foundation in 2010 through the leadership and vision of Dylan Smith, the Fremantle Foundation has not only provided critical support to dozens and dozens of grassroots organisations who are themselves vital to social inclusion and wellbeing, it has also helped strengthen the bonds of community through the style and methods of its operation. As part of the foundation's work the Impact100 Fremantle concept was born in 2013. As the name suggests, it seeks to find 100 people who are prepared to donate $1,000 each to create one transformational $100,000 grant for a local charity. Across the spectrum of arts and culture, education, environment, health and wellbeing, and family support for a decade, this grant has been a game changer for its recipients.

The community building and deliberative democracy part of Impact100 is present throughout the process, with donors given the chance to learn about the prospective grant recipients along the way and then actually determining the successful organisation on a night that features presentations from each of the shortlisted projects followed by a vote. This means the community works together to improve and expand their knowledge in the grant application process while the proponents take on the challenge of pitching and explaining what they do, receiving feedback along the way. While of course the successful project benefits enormously from the $100,000 grant, there has generally been a smaller but not insignificant grant to the second- and third-place getters, and on a few occasions, projects that have missed out in one year go on to succeed in subsequent years. I was fortunate to attend the celebration of Impact100 Fremantle earlier this month to hear the compelling pictures from each of the four shortlisted organisations: Foodbank WA, CircusWA, Waves of Wellness Foundation and the Zonta House Refuge Association.

This year's very worthy recipient was CircusWA, which helps thousands of young people to develop their confidence and wellbeing through creative high-standard training and performance programs. They create pathways for young people of all abilities and backgrounds, thanks to the leadership of their determined and creative ringmaster, Jo Smith. The Impact100 grant on this occasion will help them grow and develop their youth training program from its current status into a circus academy that delivers skills development and mentorship for young people including First Nations youth and people with disability.

I pay tribute to all of those who have been part of Impact100 in 2022, noting it marks 10 fantastic years of the initiative. I acknowledge the good people in the Fremantle Foundation and the excellent people across the Freo community who have given generously over that time, a number of whom have done so many times.