Page 20 - ABF Newsletter April 2025

Zephyr Education
The following update is from CARMEL MARTIN, co-founder and treasurer of Zephyr Education. Zephyr helps those affected by domestic and family vio- lence to resume their education – usu- ally within 24 to 48 hours of receiving a request for assistance. The vast ma- jority assisted by Zephyr are children.
You will no doubt be as dismayed as I am that we may have attended our last GCC in 2025, but I am hang- ing on to that glimmer of hope that it may continue. The purpose of this update is to urge you to contin- ue supporting Zephyr as we now support children in 245 Domestic and Family Violence refuges, Family Service organisations and outreach organisations. We even reach families living in their cars. Zephyr operates in every State and Territory in Australia.
The bridge community has been behind Zephyr from the very beginning. That was in 2013 when we start- ed by registering two refuges in Brisbane so that we could supply them with the full educational needs of children wanting to resume their education. Isa- bella, my sister and Zephyr’s president, approached them to see if this need was being addressed. She expressed her idea that we would provide what they needed whether it was a pair of shoes or the full kit, including stationery made to the booklist of the new school the children would be attending, within 24 to 48 hours. They thought she was crazy. She asked them to give us a go and the rest is history.
What Isabella, David, Terry and I started as a family charity is now an ACNC registered charity with tax deductible status. David had not long retired and thought he’d be off to the beach. Isabella and Terry were still working and I was working on making bridge my fulltime occupation. Not to be... Isabella promised to stop registering shelters when we got to 25. She lied.
Once the amazing Followmont Transport came on board to transport thousands of boxes filled with school needs, free of charge, her eyes widened with the potential for expansion. One of our visitors to
Zephyr wryly commented that the definition of our name means ‘a gentle breeze’ but that what had been created was more like a hurricane.
We provide (mostly) children with some or all of their school needs – as and when required – on ap- proval only, which approval is frugally and carefully assessed. We don’t pay into any private accounts. The range of what Zephyr pays for includes: the full book list specific to the child’s year and school; full uniform including shoes, socks and hats; swimwear; lunchbox and water bottle; resource fees, camp fees, iPads and laptops. While these devices are expen- sive, they are now indispensable learning tools and since Covid, our second highest expense.
Our aim is to have that child - the saddest and most vulnerable victim of domestic violence, look like every other school child, so they do not feel out of place, nor appear less valuable than others, nor at- tract the eye of a potential bully. This is in the hope that they can resume their education successfully. The fact we make this happen immediately is Zeph- yr’s distinguishing quality and its success as a game changer in the sector.
Last financial year, we provided for over 3000 chil- dren at a cost of $884,573 - an increase of 18.7% on the previous year. Our overheads remain at less than 2% because Zephyr is run entirely by volunteers and we operate from rent-free premises. We receive no government funding and this leads me to you - my fellow bridgies, who stagger me every year with your generosity and moral support.
I implore you to keep following and supporting Zephyr once my collectors and I will no longer be in your faces when all you wanted to do was play
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Australian Bridge Federation Ltd. Newsletter: April 2025