Belvoir St Company B theatre company and the law firm Freehills have been awarded the Australian Business Arts Foundation (AbaF) NSW Toyota Community Award and National Australian Council Arts Award for Young People, presented at the Museum of Sydney last night.
The AbaF Awards are Australia's top awards for business-arts partnerships, sponsorships, volunteering and giving. The Toyota Community Award is for partnerships with outcomes that have a community focus. The Australia Council Arts for Young People Award is for partnerships that enrich the lives of young Australians through engagement with and participation in the arts (presented at national level only).
Upon receiving the awards, Pro Bono Counsel and Executive Director, Freehills Foundation, Annette Bain said, "to be recognised by the arts community in Australia is really lovely, however the major credit must go to our partner, Company B, who had the inspiration and the right people to provide access to the theatre and educational workshop opportunities for some 21,000 young people in local, regional and rural communities, who really had no other means of doing so."
Ms Bain went on to say, "Fifteen years ago we set up the Shopfront Youth Legal Centre for homeless kids in inner Sydney. We have learnt that leaving school early is a predictor of future homelessness. We have been involved with a number of services designed to enable kids to do better at school – such as mentoring high school students, providing school uniforms for children living in a refuge and supporting a school breakfast club organisation. Company B’s education program takes this to a new level. It is a bit of a trapeze act, intermittently risky, beautiful and uplifting."
According to Company B Education Manager, Jane May, "the value of the partnership to Company B is immeasurable – we would not be able to run our education program or leverage funds to expand the program without Freehills support. The partnership is critical to Company B having an education program and we are deeply appreciative of Freehills’ support."
This is a story of an unlikely partnership between a theatre company and a law firm which took a step into the unknown. It began in 2003 with both organisations looking to extend their commitment to the community by taking a risk in trying something new. Both organisations had an unwavering commitment to social justice and creating opportunities for disadvantaged young people.
Five years ago this partnership was established to create positive change in the lives of disadvantaged young people in our Sydney community. Today Freehills and Company B are proud to say that this program reaches kids across the whole of New South Wales. From one small step into the unknown, we have now achieved more than we possibly could have imagined.
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