Fen Joyce and Tom Jenkins worked together at the community at Koh Ramdual in Cambodia as part of their final years study at UTS. At the time they talked about an ongoing philanthropic involvement in developing communities, using their construction skills and resources. After Fen’s tragic death, Tom Jenkins and Fen’s family, saw the establishment of the Foundation as a way of honouring Fen’s vision and this commitment.
It has taken some time to fully establish the Foundation. The assistance of K and L Gates has been invaluable and we appreciate that they provided this support pro bono. We were formally incorporated as a Company limited by guarantee in December 2013. As part of this process we have a Constitution, a Board of Directors and an Objective that is the Foundation is committed to assisting people in developing communities become self sufficient through infrastructure projects and the direct provision of resources for ongoing construction within these villages.
Under the Constitution we are required to hold an Annual General Meeting, which is why we are here today. Our Board of Directors comprises Mary Joyce, as Secretary, Tom Jenkins as Treasurer and me, as President. Margaret Tayar has recently joined us as Director and we appreciate her experience and expertise working overseas in the not for profit arena. The Directors meet on a monthly basis and their meetings are minuted. Members are welcome to request copies of the minutes.
Since incorporation we have had one fund raising event, co-ordinated by Mollie Joyce and which raised over $5000 towards a roof on the community centre at Koh Ramdual. Tom Jenkins will provide a report outlining the Foundation’s current financial status.
Our biggest challenge thus far has been to establish the legal entity of the Foundation – this has been achieved. Importantly, another big challenge need is establish the Foundation’s status in relation to tax deduction for donations. We continue to work on this.
Having established the Foundation, our focus now turns to moving forward with our program. The Foundation is focused on working with local communities with the greatest need on building projects to help them build strong communities. As the Foundation is small and doesn’t have the resources, insurance coverage or expertise in developing countries to conduct building projects directly, the Foundation plans to work in partnership with Habitat for Humanity, whose core business is enabling groups of Australians to work with local communities in developing countries on building projects. Working with Habitat for Humanity, Foundation members and friends can select projects in developing countries and conduct the builds as Foundation groups. The first build is planned for 2016. We invite you to a meeting that will be held shortly to hear about this proposed build and we look forward to you joining the group to undertake the build.
In the meantime, The Foundation will make a donation of $5,000 to the community at Koh Ramdual to contribute to the community builds currently underway by the UTS group.
On behalf of the other Directors, I would like to thank you – the Members – for the energy, enthusiasm and commitment that you have demonstrated in many different ways. We look forward to working with you towards establishing the Fenwick Foundation as a vibrant and viable organisation that can turn Fen and Tom’s dream into a permanent reality.