Rabo Community Fund applications open for rural community initiatives

“As one of the world's largest cooperative banks, supporting rural communities is ingrained in our global mission,” he said. “Guided by our Rabo Client Council members, the fund invests in a range of initiatives relating to these key themes. And over the past three years, these initiatives have included diverse topics from improving financial literacy, educating careers’ teachers on the diverse and exciting career pathways in agriculture available to students and facilitating events that connect people and promote well-being.”

Since launching, the fund has successfully partnered with organisations such as George the Farmer, Boys to the Bush and Heart of Australia.

Rabobank head of community and client engagement Glenn Wealands said: “the bank is proud to be able to provide financial support to these organisations that are undertaking important work in rural communities”.

“The partnership with South Australian-based ‘edu-tainment’ brand ‘George the Farmer’ is one of the Rabo Community Fund’s first collaborations,” he said. “And we are now going into the fourth year of supporting their mission to help educate children about where their food and fibre comes from, in both a fun and educational way.” Mr Wealands said to date, the Rabo Community Fund had donated almost 6000 George the Farmer books to preschools and primary schools across Australia.

The Rabo Community Fund has also been providing financial support to Boys to the Bush, an organisation focused on prevention and early intervention strategies for disconnected boys across New South Wales and Victoria.

“Boys to the Bush has impacted over 7000 lives through involvement in camps, mentoring programs, school and education programs, alternative care arrangements and community engagement days,” Mr Wealands said.

The fund’s support allowed the Riverina-based organisation to establish a new “community hub” in Wagga Wagga in late 2023 – offering preventive interventions for males aged between nine and 22.”

Mr Wealands said the Rabo Community Fund had also been “helping tackle the tyranny of distance, through supporting the Heart of Australia, a vital and innovative approach to front-line specialist medical service delivery.”

“The custom-designed medical clinics on wheels travel through rural and remote Queensland, providing medical services including blood tests and heart checks for those Australians whose lives are threatened by what can be a vast distance to access medical services,” he said.

Mr Wealands invited rural and regional community organisations and initiatives that fit the application criteria to consider applying for funding from the Rabo Community Fund.

Applications close on Thursday, May 1, 2025. Further information and application forms can be found on the Rabobank website, or at Rabo Client Councils.

Rabobank Australia & New Zealand Group is a part of the international Rabobank Group, the world’s leading specialist in food and agribusiness banking. Rabobank has more than 125 years’ experience providing customised banking and finance solutions to businesses involved in all aspects of food and agribusiness. Rabobank is structured as a cooperative and operates in 38 countries, servicing the needs of more than nine million clients worldwide through a network of more than 1000 offices and branches. Rabobank Australia & New Zealand Group is one of Australasia’s leading agricultural lenders and a significant provider of business and corporate banking and financial services to the region’s food and agribusiness sector. The bank has 87 branches throughout Australia and New Zealand.