CEF launches inaugural ‘Boot Bash’ campaign

For young rural Australians, access to post-school education can be costly, with a new campaign being launched to help tackle this barrier.

For young rural Australians, access to post-school education and employment can be more difficult than for their metropolitan counterparts, and the cost-of-living crisis isn’t making it any easier.

To help tackle this, the Country Education Foundation of Australia is launching its inaugural ‘Boot Bash’ campaign this month, to raise awareness of the post-school education participation gap between rural and metro areas, and increase funds available to support students in following their passion.

“We’re all facing rising costs but for 16 to 25 year olds, it’s particularly daunting, and that’s why we’re running this campaign, to help address that and give them a bit of a kickstart into the year,” CEF chief executive Wendy Mason said.

Heather Walker, from Grenfell, NSW, was supported by CEF while she completed a Bachelor of Education at Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga.

On March 15, the CEF is encouraging the public to lace up in their favourite boots and raise awareness and well-needed funds for rural young people.

With 79 per cent of young people the CEF supported last year having to leave home to access their education or employment, Ms Mason said funding support was vital to curb rising fuel and accommodation costs.

“We know that when we support our young people with a grant from their local foundation, that makes a big difference to the self-belief of that young person and helping them to make that step,” she said.

Ms Mason said the response from the community to the inaugural day had been positive so far, with current and alumni students of the CEF also getting involved.

“Quite a few schools are getting behind us, running fundraisers or just encouraging their students to pull on their boots for the day,” she said.