A Brisbane corporate fun run and walk now in its 21st year has announced the QUT Learning Potential Fund as a charity partner for the next three years along with the RSPCA.
PwC's Cool Night Classic is being staged on Thursday 22 October and will see thousands of people take part in corporate teams for a three kilometre walk or 5.7 kilometre run. Since it was first staged the event has raised more than $865,000 for Queensland-based charities.
QUT Council member Dr Hugh Nalder welcomed the news and urged QUT staff and alumni to show their support by joining the university's official team for the Cool Night Classic.
"Registrations to the official QUT team for the event will be matched by QUT dollar for dollar up to $15,000 with all proceeds going to the support of financially disadvantaged students," said Dr Nalder who is also a committee member for the Learning Potential Fund.
"For the Learning Potential Fund to be chosen as a recipient of the PwC Cool Night Classic is an extraordinarily generous move and a great endorsement of the worth of the fund. PwC has long been leading the way in inspiring corporate Australia to embrace philanthropy."
The QUT Learning Potential Fund was established in 1998 and has since disbursed more than 24,000 scholarships. The largest such fund in Australia, every dollar raised is matched by QUT.
"Every year thousands of highly motivated students need some financial support and the Learning Potential Fund is very dependent on the kindness of corporations and individuals, often alumni, who donate or set up a scholarship," Dr Nalder said.
"The Learning Potential Fund can transform lives and give students a brighter future. Many recipients come from difficult domestic situations or dire political or economic circumstances.
"We have helped single parents create a new life, given opportunity to students from remote communities and supported refugees who have fled war zones. Some of the Learning Potential Fund students have been homeless and many are the first in their family to receive a higher education."
The PwC Cool Night Classic starts and finishes at the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens. To register for the official QUT PwC Cool Night Classic team, visit the QUT events page.
Caption: LPF students Tom, Tamara, Coco, Christopher, Tahlia, Ezekiel, Hayley and Brad.
Media contact:
Amanda Weaver, QUT Media, 07 3138 9449, amanda.weaver@qut.edu.au
After hours: Rose Trapnell, 0407 585 901, media@qut.edu.au
