FESPA AUSTRALIA LAUNCHES TRAINING FUND

Fespa Australia has launched the Fespa Australia Training Fund, with funds mandated by its constitution for use in training and development programmes within the speciality printing industry.

In a presentation at a Fespa Australia event at Cactus Imaging, life members and trustees of The Fespa Training Fund presented it with $94,000 of seed funding.

In the first presentation, life members Trevor Cunningham and Bill Porteous, and trustee Paul Smith, presented the proceeds of the Glen Crerar scholarship fund. The scholarship was established in 1990 in memory of past president Glen Crerar, who passed away while in office.

Trevor Cunningham is a life member and past president of SGIAA (now Fespa Australia) and is the founder of Allprint Graphics 63 years ago. Bill Porteous is also a life member and past treasurer of SGIAA, and is the founder of JW Agencies.

Trevor Cunningham said, “We wanted something to commemorate Glen Crerar, and a fund for training young people was the clear vision. That ran for many years, and it would be his wish that these funds will continue to offer opportunities to young people well into the future.”

In the second presentation, Bill Porteous presented the proceeds of a cheque for $60,000, representing the NSW region's funds up until its amalgamation with the federal body in 2017.

Nigel Davies, president of the association said, “Fespa Australia is one of the oldest printing associations, and these funds were raised by generations of hardworking volunteers and generous sponsors of the screen printing industry. We are honoured to take the baton and work hard to apply and preserve these funds. By protecting those funds in our Constitution, we are ensuring that from now into the future, our association will have a laser-sharp focus on the training needs of our industry.”

Davies said, “There is much to do; the work of other Fespa associations inspires us, particularly Fespa UK's Next Generation fund, which promotes networking among young people and leverages social media to connect young people at scale. Associations must coordinate our approaches and funding to ensure a balanced approach to our industry's needs.”

Fespa Australia launched its 2023 Fespa Future Leaders program earlier this month, and interested applicants can apply for the program here. https://fespaaustralia.org.au/leadership/