A history of community support

This distinctive description of College’s place in the community is important because it positions the people and our actions firmly in the context of the site where we are located.

College has meaningfully and purposefully engaged with the Geelong community throughout its long history. Connections of this sort bring a sense of belonging, accountability and collective engagement which are at the heart of our experience here.

Above all, College is valued by the strong community directly associated with it. This edition of Ad Astra acknowledges the long history of support for the physical development of the College through financial support for buildings and scholarships. Much of what we have today is the product of generous support from people in the past, and their collective aspiration for others who will follow them in College’s history. Financial support through donations and bequests has enabled College to flourish over the last 160 years.

The purpose of the College is to provide a first-class education to young people and to serve the community. It is also important to remember College is a not-for-profit organisation. This means that we operate an annual budget with a responsible surplus of income greater than expenditure. Unlike a business where the surplus is redistributed back to shareholders or the owners, a school such as ours commits a surplus to reinvest in the facilities. The funds raised this way are typically modest. Other ways of funding capital developments are through borrowing money and paying interest out of annual operations as well as through donations. Donations are received through appeals, regular “giving” commitments and bequests. Government funding for capital projects in independent schools is increasingly scarce, especially for established schools. Therefore, we are on our

A history of community

Photos (L-R): The 2023 Bellerin Medical and Health Dinner, The 1970 Project Pegasus Dinner, 2023 Giving Day Fundraising, 1970 Project Pegasus Fundraising

own when it comes to upgrading or extending our facilities.

It is also worth noting that financial support for a project now enables greater ease of movement through the capital plan. All funds raised for capital purposes assist the overall capital plan and the timing of new projects in our ongoing effort to maintain first-class facilities at the College.

We have a long history of philanthropy. Throughout history, members of the community have contributed funds to the buildings and fittings in an effort to ensure we can continue to provide suitable facilities to enable an outstanding educational experience for our students. This is most evident

on the Senior School site where all buildings have been constructed with significant support from the community of the day. As a consequence of this generosity, we enjoy these buildings today. It is hard to imagine what our school would have been like had our predecessors not shown the foresight and generosity to build the Dining Hall, Morrison Hall, Rolland Centre, Mackie House, Cloisters and Keith Humble Centre as well as other significant projects.

We have embarked on an ambitious capital appeal this year to upgrade the indoor sports facilities at the Senior School. The new Sport and Wellbeing Centre is the focus of the Bellerin

Project. So far we have raised over $4 million which is very pleasing indeed. The support from the community has been extraordinary. The new facility will provide a place for positive engagement in physical activity which enhances health and wellbeing.

As a Geelong school, we enjoy enormous support from the wider Geelong community as well as the College community. This support comes in many forms for which I am most grateful. Financial support, shared aspirations for our students and a pride in College are all forms of engagement shown in our community. It is a strength of this place and something to treasure.