Country Education Foundation of Boorowa laced up their boots and stepped up for rural and regional students as part of Boot Bash 2025, a national fundraising and awareness campaign hosted by the Country Education Foundation (CEF).

Last week, Boorowa Central School (BSC) and St Joseph’s Primary School, Boorowa hosted a Boot Bash event to raise awareness of the challenges faced by rural and regional students in accessing education and training and raising funds to support their local students.

According to CEF’s CEO, Wendy Mason, students from rural and regional Australia face significant challenges in accessing education.

“We know that almost 80 percent of CEF students have to move away from home to access further education or employment opportunities and the cost of relocating from a regional area is a huge financial burden and a major barrier to higher education for many of the young people we support ,” she said.

“The Boot Bash is a fun way for everyone to get behind CEF and raise awareness of the critical work our local foundations do to ensure rural and regional students get the support they need to undertake further education.

"We’re also encouraging people to pull on their favourite boots and donate to the campaign to give rural and regional youth a fair go at further education."

CEF Boorowa President, Justin Fleming spoke to the children at Boorowa Central School alongside Murray Armour CEF Boorowa Alumni and BCS ex student about the difference the grant made in supporting him through his studies. Murray now has his own building business in Boorowa and employs an apprentice benefitting from a CEF grant.

Since 1993, CEF has provided almost $17.5 million in financial support.

To date, this has helped more than 8,000 students access scholarships, grants, and other assistance to pursue further education, training, and apprenticeships.

For further details contact boorowaeducationfoundation@gmail.com or Boorowa – Country Education Foundation.