past recipients

Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital aims to bring together the best wildlife veterinarians in the country to provide urgent care to threatened and injured Australian animals. In the past 12 months BBWH has treated over 1,000 native animals.

BBWH operates as a mobile animal hospital that can be deployed wherever there is a wildlife emergency. Based in Byron Bay, they collaborate with wildlife care groups to provide expert care for native animals impacted by diseases, habitat loss, traffic, urbanisation and pollution.

Grants provided include:

• Providision of an endoscopy machine that enables the vets to perform keyhole surgery on wildlife patients.

Sleep plays a vital role in good health and wellbeing; and getting enough quality sleep can help protect a person’s mental health, physical health, and safety. For those sleeping rough, getting a good nights sleep is near impossible and can contribute to long-term homelessness and more.

sleepbus® has a simple focus; to provide safe, temporary overnight accommodation to those sleeping rough in Australia. Their aim is to get people off the street and keep them safe and healthy until they can get back on their feet.

Their accommodation is not a long term solution, but what they do provide is a safe , temporary and comfortable place to sleep for the night. sleepbus believes that sleep changes everything, with a good nights sleep, the pathway out of homelessness will be a little easier to find.

Grants provided include:

• Providing funds to build two sleepbuses to be located in the Northern Rivers Region in 2022. 

AMRRIC's purpose is to collaborate with rural and remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to improve the health and wellbeing of their companion animals and the health, wellbeing and safety of communities.

AMRRIC facilitate vet access for animals in remote communities. Some communities are hundreds of kilometres away from a vet clinic and don’t have access to simple parasitic treatments. Most of the community shops have limited stock and often don’t supply these important animal care products. Purchasing these can also be costly and online access is difficult.

Grants provided include:

• The absence of vet care and access to simple effective antiparasitic treatment has allowed many parasitic diseases to increase, including a devastating new illness called Ehrlichiosis which is spread by brown dog ticks. Seaton Foundation provided a grant to assist in protecting animals from potentially dangerous ticks and tick-borne diseases.

Bangalow and beyond now has a community group devoted to the village’s unique koala population and the surrounding areas – Bangalow Koalas Inc. is a registered environmental organisation with DGR status (deductible gift recipient) and charity/not-for-profit. It became active in May 2016 with the local community realising the importance of our Koala population on the western side of Bangalow.

The Koala is listed as a vulnerable species nationally under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity (EPBC) Act 1995 and in NSW under the Threatened Species Conservation (TSC) Act 1995.

Bangalow Koalas long-term goal is to create a Koala wildlife corridor, forming a linkage of habitat from Byron Bay/Bangalow heading westwards towards Tenterfield and south towards Grafton, allowing koalas to move safely across the local landscape.

Grants provided include:

• Funding to continue their work on the Koala Corridor

Human Nature works with young people aged 14-24 with experiences of complex trauma and significant disadvantage, offering in-depth mental health interventions inspired by nature. Their dynamic team of psychologists, social workers and therapeutic mentors, take young people out of their clinical settings and into nature, empowering them to reconnect with themselves and their wider communities.

Grants provided include:

• Providing seed funding to grow the organisation and expand the Recre8 adventure therapy program
• Establishment of the Elev8 program which connects with youth who have previously completed adventure therapy
• Delivery of porch packs during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Delivery of Christmas hampers to participants and their families
• Providing a grant for additional staff to support the Elev8 program

Sprung!! Integrated Dance Theatre is a not for profit and community based organisation providing workshops and specialised dance and theatre training for people with disability. Sprung!! provides opportunities for people with a disability to engage in dance and theatre in a respectful, supportive and inclusive setting. They also develop dance and theatre works of high artistic quality that showcase the talents and unique qualities of dancers with a disability.

Grants provided:

• Sprung!! dancers perform in one Major annual production. For the past 2 years Sprung!! has worked with  Creative Partnerships Australia to raise the funds to run these productions. Seaton Foundation ensured that fundraising targets were met in order to maximise their fundraising opportunities.

Our Kids was established to improve the outcomes for children's health in the Northern Rivers Region of NSW by raising funds to purchase medical equipment for Lismore Base Hospital's Children's Ward, Special Care Nursery, Women's Care Unit and the Accident and Emergency Department and the surrounding satellite hospitals. The Seaton Foundation has recently granted funds for a Wireless CTG machine for the Labour Ward at the Lismore Base Hospital.

Grants provided include:

• Purchasing essential equipment to be used in the labour ward at Lismore base hospital, including:
  • A Wireless CTG machine
  • A Humidicrib

The Family Centre is a progressive, community-owned, social purpose organisation working towards progressive, measurable and sustainable social change. The Seaton Foundation has provided funding to assist families escaping domestic violence and providing funding for school and sports supplies for disadvantaged children.

Grants provided include:

• Most recently Seaton Foundation has provided funding for a part-time Youth and Family Worker for the Family Centre's Rent Choice Youth Program
• Assisting homeless youth in the Ballina, Byron and Tweed areas
• Helping women and children escape domestic violence by supporting the Ballina Domestic Violence Liaison
• Providing funds for the Enrichment for Underprivileged Children in the Northern Rivers

Northern Rivers Animal Services re-homes the abandoned, abused, lost and unwanted dogs and cats in the Northern Rivers. The Seaton Foundation provides funding to support foster carers and administration staff.

Grants provided include:

• Purchasing a hydrotherapy dog bath
• Upgrading office, including equipment and computers
• Upgrading kitchen facilities at the shelter

Byron Youth Services is the primary provider of youth services in the Byron Shire for young people between the ages of 12 -24 years. BYS operates from the Byron Youth Activity Centre in Byron Bay and The Cottage in Mullumbimby.  They run outreach programs throughout the Byron Shire.

Grants provided include:

• Supporting the Creative Care Packs Project which delivered care packages to at risk youth during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020
• Future Forests Project - Upskilling young people to plant and grow a food forest to build community resiliency and connections through the physical planting of fruit trees, edible plants and vegetables

Momentum is a community collective creating real social change and inclusive opportunities. They provide support for mental health, community housing, supported employment, domestic violence and homelessness, to name a few.

Grants provided include:

• Supporting the Indigenous Garden Project - building a community garden
• Providing a grant for gym and meditation equipment to improve wellbeing and mental health

Liberation Larder rescues food that would otherwise go into landfill and use it to provide meals or food parcels to those who need it. The organisation has been saving food for 10 years now for members of the Byron Bay community.

Grants provided include:

• Supporting the kitchen in providing meals during the COVID-19 pandemic

Orange Sky was established in 2014 to provide the world's first free mobile laundry service for people experiencing homelessness. However, the primary focus of the service is to provide a genuine human connection through conversation. 

Grants provided include:

• Creating a new service in the Northern Rivers Region of NSW through purchase of a Van named 'Don'
• Providing additional assistance to continue services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic

Lord Taverner's mission is to enhance the prospects of disadvantaged and disabled young people using cricket and other forms of sport and recreation to engage with them. More importantly, LT's aims to open up opportunities for disadvantaged youth providing sporting facilities, equipment and educational opportunities for those with financial constraints, geographical isolation, or physical and intellectual disability.

Grants provided include:

• Tertiary Scholarships for students at the University of New England
• Supporting the Solomon Islands FUTSAL team by providing uniforms and boots. This is the first time the team has been able to represent themselves in matching uniforms
• Providing support for fundraising activities such as the Baggy Blues Dinner

Upcoming Projects include:

• TAFE Bursaries at selected TAFE's in the Northern Rivers Region
• Tertiary Scholarships through Southern Cross University

Friends of the Koala is committed to conserving koalas and preserving and enhancing their habitat, particularly in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. This is achieved through rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing koalas; Protecting and enhancing koala habitat; community education; and assisting in research.

Grants provided include:

• Building Koala Habitats