Fostering the youth of Hepburn Shire.
Our History
It began with a simple goal.
The Daylesford Foundation’s founders, Jim Foster and Norma Foster had moved to the Daylesford region in their retirement. So, they began to look around for a local charity that helped children and families in the Hepburn Shire who were facing difficulties (but had exhausted all available options for assistance).
Jim and Norma also knew they wanted to be involved with a charity that:
- had clear goals and management structure
- had minimal administration costs, and
- could respond quickly to calls for assistance.
Alas, no such charity existed. So Jim and Norma established The Daylesford Foundation.
Says Jim, “We formed a Board, consisting of 5 local residents, bringing experience in healthcare, education, finance, IT, and governance together. From there, a 5 year private funding arrangement of $100,000 per year was secured. This arrangement was then extended another 5 years in June 2023.’
So, select community organisations were invited to work with them to provide external and independent vetting of applicants seeking support. This meant the Daylesford Foundation could ensure their objectives were met through these selective charities and caregiving programs, and ensured that:
- a clear set of objectives is measured and reached, in line with the Foundation’s Vision and Mission
- a sustainable, non-profit model is in place to both maintain and build capability in collaboration with the Foundation’s program partners.
Some of The Daylesford Foundation’s milestones so far:
- 2018: The Daylesford Foundation was established and registered as a Charity with the ACNC.
2019: Made its first distributions, totalling $2,525, with five of the six recipients receiving laptop leasing and repair support in partnership with Daylesford Secondary College, beginning seven years of frontline partnership work.
2020: Expanded into health and food relief, funding Hepburn Regional Community Cheer, Daylesford Good Grub Club and Healthy Lunch Kitchen.
2022: Donated a car to the L2P Program to offer local learners access to a vehicle in partnership with Ballarat Foundation.
2023: Formalised the Schools Support program, now funding all 13 schools across Hepburn Shire.
2024: Took control of the $1.92 million Forever Fund, an endowment established by founders Jim and Norma Foster, now partnered with the Australian Communities Foundation.
2025: Passed $1 million in cumulative community distributions.
2026: Reached major growth and regional scale, distributing $324,822 in a single year and taking total giving since 2018 to $1,234,434.
A note from Norma Foster, Co-founder
Like many Melbournians Jim and I did the semi-regular weekend trips up to Daylesford, always feeling an affinity with the area. But it wasn’t until our retirement, many years later that we were able to move here permanently.
Surprisingly, when researching family history in the early years I found both sides of my Australian family are from the area along with Jim’s grandfather from Bendigo. My great, great grandfather came to Daylesford with his family in the mid-1850s to meet up with his brothers. Samuel Verey was his name, and after purchasing land on Sullivan Street where he made many improvements such as planting trees he decided working on the land wasn’t for him and he moved on to his next project: opening up a school in Camp Street and becoming its Headmaster. His son Ebenezer (at aged 15) helped him in the school.
In 1875 the opening of the first public school, Daylesford Primary effectively closed Samuel’s school and he moved on to other endeavours. Many of my grandfather’s family members are buried in Campbell’s Creek. members are buried in Campbell’s Creek. I’ve heard the saying “You can’t really call yourself a local unless you’ve got relatives buried in the cemetery”. Perhaps Jim and I were destined to become locals!