Queensland Government make Major Funding Announcement

The Townsville Fire has scored a $1.5m injection from the Queensland Government to help fund the women’s community support work.

The money, spread over three years, will help the women reach the lives of 15,000 young people everyyear through four programs, including children interred at the Cleveland Youth Detention Centre.

Townsville Fire legend and general manager Samantha Pascoe said the club visited Cleveland three daysa month for its Ignite2Rise program, with the players attending once.

“The kids respond really well,” Ms Pascoe said.

“We are the only community-owned WNBL club in the league, so it aligns and stables us in our core of why we exist, not just as a basketball team.

“It is really important we do what can to provide healthy female role models to the community across the board.”

The school program sees the players visit kids’ after-school sports programs, cooking classes andcareer planning sessions.

The Fire also runs a three-day mentorship camp called “Ignite the Dream”, which features community service activities alongside basketball development, and the IgniteHer program, where at-risk youthsin the community are treated to workshops on resilience, self-value and positive relationships.

The funding enables the team’s players to be employed all year round, meaning when they’re not on the basketball court winning championships, these strong rolemodels will be educating and empowering students and at-risk children in Townsville and across the state.

As an added bonus, the more players that remain in Townsville during the off-season, the moreopportunities there are for team bonding, skill boosts, and exploring career paths in the city post-basketball, Ms Pascoe said.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the government was backing the Fire because the team backed Townsville.

“I know how proud North Queenslanders are of their championship winning Townsville Fire Women’s Basketball team,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“Not only are they getting results on the floor, they’re getting results in the Townsville community through their extensive community outreach work.”

Scott Stewart MP said he had worked closely with Ms Pascoe and the Fire to secure the funding. “I know how important these programs are,” Mr Stewart said.

Written by; Paul Brescia – Townsville Bulletin

Read the article – https://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au

The programs include;

• School Program – encourage students to make healthy choices through after-school sports programs, cooking classes, mindfulness workshops and career planning sessions.
• Ignite2Rise – help young Queenslanders deemed at-risk and currently at the Cleveland Youth Detention Centre, through vocational training and work experience opportunities.
• IgniteHer Program – support at risk youth in the community through workshops promoting resilience, self-value, and positive relationships, with both family and the community.
• Ignite the Dream Camp – help youth experiencing social isolation, or at risk of dropping out of school, by taking them on a three-day camp involving mentorship sessions, basketball development clinic, leadership workshops and community service activities.

Find out more information about the programs here