Press release
The Grant Thornton Foundation welcomes two new National Charity Partners
18 Nov 2024
The Grant Thornton Foundation is proud to announce two new National Partnerships in Women's Resilience Centre and RizeUp.
It's critical to support organisations who are striving to abolish violence in our society as recent figures from the Australian Government are alarming, reporting 11.3 per cent of Australian adults have experienced domestic violence from a partner and 7 per cent from another family member.
John Picot, Grant Thornton Foundation Chairperson, expressed his commitment to creating change alongside the newly established partnerships, “We are thrilled to be joining forces with Women’s Resilience Centre and RizeUp to raise further awareness for domestic and family violence. Both these charity partners are passionate, community-driven organisations helping women and families who have witnessed or experienced trauma to transition from an unsafe environment and providing them with an opportunity to rebuild their lives.
“These new partnerships, and the broader activities of the Grant Thornton Foundation, strive to empower our people to make a positive impact in their communities. We’re excited to begin these partnerships, while also acknowledging the incredible impact we’ve had over the past 10 years of the Foundation.”
Grant Thornton Australia conducts surveys to identify key issues that matter to their employees, and women’s safety emerged as a significant concern. This feedback guides the committee in selecting partnership opportunities for the next three years. Funded by employee workplace giving donations and an annual contribution from Grant Thornton Australia, the Foundation trustees allocate a portion of these funds to its National Charity Partners. These partners are chosen based on employee preferences and are supported through a three-year program dedicated to delivering measurable outcomes for their organisations.
Simone Allan Founder and Director from the Women’s Resilience Centre is grateful for the partnership with Grant Thornton and she states that, “It will give us further support for women who are transitioning from short-term to long term accommodation and stepping forward after domestic abuse to reset and rebuild their lives. The partnership we’ve established with the Grant Thornton Foundation is critical for driving more change in this space, and we’re eager to see how additional support can help us achieve more positive outcomes for the women and children we help.”
The Grant Thornton Foundation is also excited to partner with RizeUp Australia who are an organisation that help women escape from dangerous situations in order to establish confidence in rebuilding their lives after witnessing or experiencing trauma.
Nicolle Edwards, Founder at RizeUp Australia is passionate about making a change and feels excited for how the partnership with the Grant Thornton Foundation will help drive further awareness and impact, “With the help of the Grant Thornton Foundation, we’ll be able to scale in areas of unmet needs and establish ourselves in new locations to increase the wellbeing and safety of the people we assist.
“By joining forces with the Grant Thornton Foundation, we’ll be able to provide 225 new beds for young people which will increase their safety in the community. Our organisation works in partnership with domestic violence agencies, so we’re excited to begin working together and cannot wait to see the impact we can achieve when our teams combine resources.”
We’re delighted to have Women’s Resilience Centre and RizeUp join us alongside our already established partnerships with headspace and Special Olympics Australia. These relationships will strengthen the Foundation’s opportunity to make a difference for women’s safety and the mental health of young people.
Helpful links
To read our latest Grant Thornton Foundation report and find out about the positive impact National Charity Partners and the Foundation have on the community, click here.
Listen in
If you’d like to learn more about our National Partnerships, listen to our episode of The Remarkables podcast from earlier this year. In this episode we chat to Christina Molina and Jennifer Lobb from headspace, and Sean Douglas from Special Olympics Australia about what makes them so passionate about the social sector, how the community can support their organisations, as well as the stigmas and misconceptions around mental health and diversity and inclusion.
Experts / Authors
Ailish Parr
Communications Manager at Grant Thornton Australia
