Essendon Football Club today welcomed Therese Rein – wife of the Prime Minister and Patron of the Indigenous Literacy Project - to officially launch the club’s Literacy Program in the Essendon Hall of Fame.

 

The ground-breaking program – believed to be first of its kind in Australia – was designed in partnership with The Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation (ANLF) and is proudly supported by Bendigo Bank.

 

 

The program involves appropriately trained players engaging in classroom activities in Melbourne. There is also an on-line component to the program and a ‘purpose-built’ novel – Pencil O’Reilly: Bush Champion – that has been written to compliment the program objectives.

 

Courtesy of the support shown by Bendigo Bank, 10,000 copies of the book will be supplied to primary schools between Essendon and Bendigo.

 

Therese Rein said she was very pleased to be officially launching this important program that will help so many young children - especially young boys.

 

“Many boys don’t see the people around them – those they admire – pick up a newspaper, a magazine or a book,” Ms Rein said.

 

“This is one of the most important things for a boy to see someone reading which says to them ‘hey! It’s cool to read. It’s fun to read’!”

 

“What Essendon is doing is very important and it helps to show young people that their sporting heroes are readers.

 

 “I would like to congratulate Essendon Football Club for their exceptional work in getting this program off the ground and into the hands of Australian kids.”

 

Mary-Ruth Mendel, ALNF co-founder, encouraged other sporting clubs to follow Essendon’s lead to help boost national literacy standards.

 

“ALNF is very excited to be working in partnership with Essendon Football Club on such a worthwhile program. Essendon is a wonderful example of the important role sporting clubs play in helping to inspire young people to persevere and achieve success – both on and off the field,” Ms Mendel said.

“Imagine if only six out of 30 kids in your child’s class could read? That is what parents in remote Indigenous communities face today.  I’d like to strongly encourage other clubs to follow Essendon’s lead in working with ALNF to change these numbers by empowering marginalised youth through literacy.”

 

Dennis Bice –  representing partner of the Literacy Program, Bendigo Bank – said it was important that sporting bodies and business committed to making a difference in the community.

 

“Bendigo Bank, like Essendon, recognises and values the contribution young people make to a community and we’re committed to supporting the development of our nation’s youth,” Mr Bice said.

 

“We hope this literacy program encourages children to exercise not only their bodies, but their minds, so they can have a positive impact on their local communities.”