↓ SECTION 03 — FOUNDATION
NEW FOUNDATION CHAIR PENNY MCBAIN Forty years have passed since the Geelong Grammar Foundation was established and as I become its new Chair I can’t help but look back with admiration, and look forward with hope and excitement. Over the years, an endowment now standing at around $40 million has been established thanks to the dedicated leadership of Principals, Foundation Board members, School Council, staff and volunteers. Some 890 people are now Foundation members and in the past four-and-a-half years over $31 million has been given and committed to our Exceptional Futures comprehensive fundraising campaign. We have met our targets for the SPACE ($10M) and scholarships ($10M) and, while there are more funds to raise, the School Council is proceeding to build the Toorak Wellbeing Centre. The committee working to raise funds for a new Sailing clubhouse has held its first meeting and fundraising for Visiting Fellows and Positive Education continues to develop. The Biddlecombe Society has had 12 new members join this year as we find more people within our community keen to remember the School in their estate planning. I wish to thank wholeheartedly everyone who has joined the Foundation and given to the School in the past. And I especially thank Bill Ranken (M’72) for his many contributions as he steps back from being Chair (but happily, remains on the Foundation Board). So much has been achieved already and, of course, there is still much to do. We continue our five-year fundraising campaign through to the end of this year. I know that there
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are still members of the Foundation and our wider community who want to be a part of this exciting and successful enterprise. I hope that you will join me in supporting the Foundation as it seeks to move several projects further forward through the coming months. We are still actively fundraising for the Toorak Wellbeing Centre and will continue to do so until the building is completed. We have also commenced fundraising for the proposed new Sailing clubhouse. Exceptional Futures will remain our theme as the Foundation develops further its focus on scholarships, bequests – and one building at a time. The School seeks to strengthen its capacity to offer meaningful scholarships and to develop the School in partnership with its wider community. The Geelong Grammar Foundation is a key partner in supporting and resourcing the School and I am honoured to be its Chair. I hope you will be keen to support the Foundation and its endeavours into the future, and that your philanthropy will bring you and your family much joy and satisfaction. Penny McBain Chair, Geelong Grammar Foundation
Penny is a past parent who has been a member of our School community since 1999. Penny and her husband John’s three daughters, Rosie (Ga’06), Poppy (Ga’09) and Ane (Ga’13), all attended the School. She was a Founding Director of Melbourne IVF and prior to her retirement a Consultant Gynaecologist at the Royal Women’s Hospital for 25 years. Penny is a member of the Exceptional Futures’ Campaign Executive, an ex officio member of all fundraising committees and a member of the School Council. She is also Chair of the Tommy Garnett Scholarship Fundraising Committee.
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