FESPA Australia Launches $94,000 Training Fund

L-R -Chris Wright - CEO - Allprint Graphics- Glen Crerar Recipient, Paul Smith - GC Trustee and Recipient, Nigel Davies - FESPA Australia President, Trevor Cunningham - Life Member and Past President. Founder of Allprint Graphics, Bill Porteous - Life Member - founder of JW Agencies - part NSW Treasurer, Grant Cunningham - Managing Director Allprint Graphics- past NSW Region President

FESPA Australia has announced the launch of the FESPA Australia Training Fund. As mandated by the FESPA Australia constitution, the funds will be used exclusively for training and development programs within the speciality printing industry.

Life members and trustees of The FESPA Training Fund presented $94,000 of seed funding at a recent Open House event at Cactus Imaging in two separate presentations.

In the first presentation, Trevor Cunningham, FESPA Life Member and founder of Allprint Graphics, Bill Porteous, FESPA Life Member and founder of JW Agencies, and Paul Smith, Trustee presented the proceeds of the Glen Crerar scholarship fund. The scholarship was established in 1990 in memory of past President Glen Crerar. Cunningham spoke of Glen Crerar’s wish that the scholarship funds would offer opportunities to young people well into the future.

Porteous took to the stage for the second presentation to hand over a cheque for $60,000, representing the NSW region's funds up until its amalgamation with the Federal body in 2017.  

"FESPA Australia is one of the oldest printing associations, and generations of hardworking volunteers and generous sponsors of the screen-printing industry raised these funds. 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,” says Nigel Davies, President of FESPA Australia.

Davies adds, “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/