The motivation to get a better education in regional Australia can sometimes emerge from the most unusual ideas - like the world's longest washing line of socks.
That curious record achievement, at Port Macquarie on NSW's Mid North Coast, was just one of hundreds of activities to generate $2 million in funds and professional support last year via a community network which aids education and career opportunities for young people whose learning options may be hundreds, or thousands, of kilometres from home.
Over a timeframe of almost 30 years the Country Education Foundation of Australia has provided about 7000 regional youngsters with motivational support, including financial help, to get them educated, inspired and on the step ladder to success.
Importantly, the energy and funding assistance for CEF recipients comes from their very own communities.
A network of about 415 volunteers is tasked with identifying and helping tertiary students who may benefit from funds for education and training, or peer support and mentoring guidance to assist their choices at university and into the workforce.
Those voluntary efforts have not just influenced the career growth of grant recipients, but have also generated motivating dividends for their country community.
Empowering step
"It's extremely empowering for somebody to be able to take that big educational step outside their home district, but it also sends a very supportive message to their family and community cohort about what can be achieved," said CEF chief executive officer, Juliet Peterson.
Almost 40 per cent of CEF recipients were the first in their family to attend a university or pursue some form of tertiary qualification.
CEF funds help cover the cost of textbooks, accommodation, computers, trade tools, fuel for travel to work placements, and more.
Recipients - aged from 16 to 25 - span a wide spectrum of university and TAFE students, from medical undergraduates to hairdressers, shearers, teachers and plumbers.
From little things...
CEF was born at Boorowa in southern NSW in the depths of the 1990s wool market crash and a depressing drought.
It spread to neighbouring Yass and Cowra and now involves 44 affiliate branches spread from South Australia's Kangaroo Island to Clermont in western Queensland.
Over its lifetime the network has provided about $15 million in funds and professional support, last year making 648 funding distributions across all states.
"It didn't take long for us to realise that for a relatively modest amount of money you got remarkable results," said CEF chairman and one of the founding figures behind the first Boorowa group, Nick Burton Taylor, Hillgrove.
The initiative grew from genuine concern about levels of community despondency in Boorowa.
"Times were tough. All four big banks had left town, other businesses like stock and station agencies were closing, and we were particularly worried about the future for young people finishing school," he said.
One of the first grant recipients was a teenager doing a refrigeration course who needed help to buy tools and attend training in Canberra.
"About four years later he told me his job was going so well he was buying a house," Mr Burton Taylor said.
"There really is a disproportionate benefit from giving people some early support.
"It tends to foster peer pressure and a sense of responsibility to make the most of the help you've received."
In fact, University of NSW research found every dollar invested in CEF assistance returned a $5 social and financial dividend to the student and their community.
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Support for individuals can range from $500 to $5000 a year, or university scholarships worth up to $25,000.
The foundation and its graduate student alumni also mentors country students during their studies and apprenticeships, which are often at institutions far from the familiar surroundings, friends and support networks back at home.
"It wasn't just about giving some financial help, they were actually interested in my progress and helping to get me onto the right path," said recent University of New England business graduate and now AuctionPlus market operator, Millie George.
"It was great to have someone to talk to - a bit of a sounding board.
"They understood what I was dealing with and what I was hoping to achieve."
Ms George, who grew up on a sheep and cropping property at Nyngan in western NSW, had not been prepared for the extraordinary cost of university textbooks - typically $160 to $200 each - which were often only required for one semester.
CEF funds helped her pay for books and rented texts and to travel home during university breaks to help her family feeding stock through the recent drought.
Broken Hill midwife, Meg Austin, is convinced CEF's financial help with her travel and accommodation costs was directly responsible for her discovering where her skills were most needed and subsequently taking a job in Far West NSW.
Game changer
"Without that money I could not have afforded to do a practical placement at Dubbo and I wouldn't have realised I really loved the spirit of rural community life, or appreciated what I could achieve out here," she said.
"It was a game changing opportunity for me.
"I'd probably be lying on a beach today if I hadn't been given that chance."
Originally from Canowindra on NSW's Central West slopes, her job, which services an area from the Queensland border to Mildura in northern Victoria, had highlighted a disparity between metropolitan and regional health facilities and fuelled her to do more to help, particularly in women's health.
University of NSW graduate, Saul Brady now works with accounting giant PwC, but remains an enthusiastic CEF champion after receiving funds raised by his local Great Lakes foundation on NSW's Mid North Coast.
"The foundation brings together lots of people really committed to seeing country students reach their goals, and where possible bring those skills back to regional communities," he said.
"It was quite a big thing for me to know my community cared about what I was doing and they'd raised money to support people like me."
Thankful for the opportunities and moral support he received, Mr Brady now offers his own time to promote the foundation's work, assist and mentor students or encourage corporate financial backers at CEF donor events.
Indeed, the commerce and economics graduate and business strategy consultant is officially recognised as one of the CEF alumni's "aspirational influencers".
"I've landed a good job thanks, in part, to the influential efforts and support of others and I reckon I'm in a good place to give something back."
- This story is part of a special print and digital series. Ag Influencers is a new publication that aims to highlight the many people making an impact in agriculture across Australia. This special liftout will be inserted into all ACM Ag publications on May 26.
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