CHARITIES WE SUPPORT

BackTrack is a not-for-profit organisation that enables young people who have lost their way to reconnect with education and training, become work ready and secure meaningful employment. 

BackTrack offers a lifeline for many kids (aged mostly between 12-19 years) who would otherwise fall through the cracks of society.  With BackTrack's support, these youth get 'back on track' and become happy, healthy and positive participants in the local community.   

The support from the Kennards Family Foundation to BackTrack has included funding and the provision of equipment such as trailers, chainsaws, welders and more. This equipment has been instrumental in providing training and work experience opportunities to BackTrack's young people, enabling them to not only develop aspirations to work, but to have the experience to gain employment in the local trade and Agricultural sectors.

Dismantle is a charity that supports vulnerable young people who are having a tough time in Perth and regional Western Australia. Working with around 400 young people annually, Dismantle helps to provide them with the skills they need to take an active role in their own self-development.

Dismantle’s flagship program is BikeRescue, where youth workers and Occupational Therapists appear as Bike Mechanics and deliver an Earn-a-Bike program - one bike is restored and donated to charity, to earn a second to keep. Along the way, participants are slowly encouraged to open up about their barriers, explore opportunities and connect to supportive pathways.

Beyond BikeRescue, Dismantle connects young people to social enterprise initiatives that further the soft and hard work-readiness skills and abilities.

Ganbina is Australia’s most successful Indigenous school to work transition program. Ganbina has a unique approach - they mentor young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, from the ages of six to 25 years old, to make sure they gain the education, skills and life experiences they need to unlock their full potential. The program includes learning support, life skills training, cultural appreciation, career guidance and financial assistance.

Ganbina empowers Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and youth to successfully overcome the disadvantages they face so that they can go to on to live fulfilling, independent lives.

KidsXpress is a specialist trauma focused organisation providing Expressive Therapy Programs and Trauma-Informed Education Services. A registered charity, KidsXpress was established in 2006 to address the lack of services available to support children who were living with the effects of childhood trauma.

Through the delivery of nationally accredited and evidence-based therapy and education services, KidsXpress is leading the way in early-intervention services by protecting children from the insidious and cumulative effects of toxic stress – and the dark legacy of a childhood that no child would choose.

“There is no greater support one can receive than unwavering belief, in the good times and in the toughest. Belief we are worthy, belief in who we are as people and the tangible difference we strive to make to the most vulnerable.

Melbourne Indigenous Transition School (MITS) has developed a new educational model to provide choice and opportunity to Indigenous students from remote and regional communities across Australia. Each year, 22 Year 7 Indigenous boys and girls  come to live at the MITS boarding house in Richmond, Victoria. They attend the MITS inside the Richmond Football Club, where they study a curriculum focused on numeracy, literacy, wellbeing and cultural strength.

MITS provides a warm home-style environment that celebrates culture and understands the challenges of transitioning from a small community to a big city. At the end of their MITS year, the students move into scholarship positions at Melbourne partner schools, where they continue to be supported through MITS’s Pathways Program. From Year 8 onwards, some students continue to board with MITS while attending partner schools as day students.

The Karrkad Kanjdji Trust work at the intersection of two monumental issues for Australia – the vast and unique environment, and the hopes, dreams and place of the First Australians.  

The Trust works with local Indigenous land management organisations to incubate compelling projects, and then partners with some of Australia’s leading philanthropists to bring them to reality.

The Kennards Hire Foundation, through the Karrkad Kanjdji Trust supports the Nawarddeken Academy, a unique bicultural school in the remote Indigenous outstation of Kabulwarnamyo in the Warddeken Indigenous Protected Area. The Nawarddeken Academy has an 85% attendance rate and has enabled 19 Warddeken land management Rangers jobs to be retained or created.

Our Place is a holistic place-based approach to supporting the education and development of children and families in disadvantaged communities. Our Place facilitates partnerships that enable the local school to be the central place for learning and support services that overcome barriers to educational achievement.

Our Place is an example of when philanthropy, government and the social service sector come together to overcome the barriers faced by disadvantage to create a positive, inspiring and evidence-based outcomes in supporting the educational and well-being needs for families and their communities.

For almost 30 years, Stepping Stone House (SSH) has provided accommodation and personal development to young people experiencing homelessness or who are unable to live with their families. With 38% of Australia's homeless population under the age of 25, SSH’s aim is to empower the individual to achieve responsible independence.

Through educational development, adventure programs, community volunteering, mentoring and counselling, SSH equips young people aged 12 – 24 years with the self-care and life skills they need to become independent and succeed in life long-term.

The Smith Family supports disadvantaged Australian children to participate fully in their education, giving them the best chance at breaking the cycle of disadvantage.

The Learning for Life program provides emotional, practical and financial support to help disadvantaged children and young people with their education. This support increases a young person’s likelihood of remaining engaged with school, completing Year 12 and developing realistic and informed study and career pathways for life beyond the school gate.

TRACTION's purpose is to empower vulnerable young people to discover, connect and realise their own positive and successful future. Their key program, Bicycle Build, provides the opportunity for young people to gain experience in bicycle building and maintenance. Each program delivers over 50 hours of mentoring for young people and the chance to build resilience, teamwork and leadership skills. Founded in 2015 and based in Queensland, TRACTION has supported more than 1,400 young people through their programs, across seven south east Queensland regions.

Youth Opportunities is a South Australian not-for-profit organisation whose mission is to empower young people, giving them the tools and skills to overcome challenges now and in their future. Their key program, the Personal Leadership Program, is a 60 hour wellbeing and life skills training program that helps increase the confidence, self-worth, and motivation of young people, allowing them to build resilience and overcome adversity throughout their lives.

Each year, Youth Opportunities works with more than 2,000 young people right across South Australia, through a range of programs and services. They have been doing so since 1997, and have supported more than 13,300 students, positively impacting their schools, families and communities.

The KidsCan Charitable Trust works in partnership with 700+ low decile primary, intermediate and high schools providing tangible items such as food, raincoats, shoes and basic health and hygiene items.

Kennards Hire has been supporting KidsCan since 2014 and over that time have provided financial donations, in-kind donations and volunteers to help support Kiwi kids in need.

Springboard works with marginalised young people and their families in New Zealand’s North Auckland area, empowering them with life changing principles, skills and mentors to facilitate personal transformation.  

Working out of their values; ‘Hope, Belonging, Purpose, Wellbeing and Integrity’ Springboard continues to see positive changes with the young people in their programs and the ripple effect that it has on the wellbeing of the wider community.

The Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) is a private (non-profit) organisation that protects endangered wildlife across almost 6.5 million hectares, in iconic places such as the Kimberley, Cape York, Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre and the Top End.

Guided by world-class science, AWC’s practical approach to land management is generating exciting outcomes for Australia’s threatened wildlife, like the Numbat population which has increased by 350% under AWC’s management.

The Australian bush is a place of outback wonders and rugged beauty. Bush Heritage buys and manages land, and partners with Aboriginal people, to protect Australia’s irreplaceable landscapes and magnificent native species forever.

The support from the Kennards Hire Foundation will directly improve the health of the Australian bush, allowing Bush Heritage to protect almost 6,000 native species across our reserves. The donations will be spent entirely in Australia, fighting threats to our environment such as wildfires, climate change, feral predators, invasive weeds and restoring waterways.

Taronga Conservation Society Australia (Taronga) is a not-for-profit organisation, caring for wildlife and creating transformational experiences that inspire guests and the broader community to become champions for wildlife. Taronga participates in regional and global conservation programs and is home to Australia’s largest conservation Science team, carrying out world-class research.

The Kennard Family and Kennards Hire business have been involved with Taronga for many years. From supporting innovative programs that empower young people living near habitat wildlife hotspots to take action and become wildlife ambassadors, to supporting the Tasmanian Devil Insurance Breeding Program when the species were first identified as in crisis. Kennards Hire were also instrumental in the success of Taronga’s Wild! Rhino fundraiser where our employees went above and beyond to deliver almost life-sized Rhino sculptures all over greater Sydney.