BOTTOM LEFT: TONY BRIGGS WITH CLASSMATES FROM 1985- REAR: JAMES FERGUSSON, CHRIS WINNEKE, ROBERT ROSEBY, SIMON MCGREGOR, ED ALLEN, ROHAN SUTHERLAND, TONY BRIGGS, LACHIE FRASER-SMITH, ADAM SMITH AND LANG NICHOLLS. FRONT: RICHARD SELLARS-JONES, SCOTT MONTGOMERY, TIM SHEARER AND TONY JAPP. BOTTOM RIGHT: TODD GARNER( YEAR 10), LACHIE JOHNSON( YEAR 10), FLETCHER JOHNSTONE( YEAR 9), JIMMY GADSDEN( YEAR 9), JOEL GARNER( YEAR 12), DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT TIM SHEARER(’ 85), TONY BRIGGS(’ 85), JAMARRA UGLE-HAGAN( YEAR 9), PHILIP‘ PJ’ CROCOMBE( YEAR 11) AND DION JOHNSTONE( 2016).
• our matching givers, who so generously invested in this concept in the lead-up to the 24 hour campaign;
• all the boys of Scotch, who championed this day so enthusiastically and with true heart;
• impetus and energy to the event;
• our staff, who came on board in great numbers and in a whole variety of ways;
• our wonderful parents, who supported
our Indigenous boys, who gave a special
this event and the merit of the cause through their generosity; and
• in particular, our band of volunteers in the engine room who took to the phones with grace and gusto.
In thanking the Scotch community, I thought I would share with you my speech to Senior School Assembly on the morning following our live campaign fundraising day:
‘ Something special happened at Scotch yesterday. To me, the day demonstrated the power of looking up and aiming high, the strength of collaboration and an imposing generosity of spirit.
‘ Thank you, Mr Batty, for backing this unorthodox fundraising model. It was a platform of high risk, but high reward, for it is worth noting that if we hadn’ t achieved our target of $ 750,000, we would have been spending today refunding all donations! The fact that our community reached the target by 10.30 in the morning, and then went well beyond the original goal, speaks volumes for the Scotch Family, just as it speaks volumes for the cause.
‘ I would like to thank my Scotch classmate, Tony Briggs, for allowing us the honour of naming this particular scholarship after him. It is most fitting that Tony’ s name will forever be linked with our school. I looked up to Tony when I was at school, and I still look up to him today.
‘ I would like to thank the staff for their generous support, and I would particularly like to thank Dr Smith, Ms Linossier and Mr Scholes for the amazing work they are doing with our program. Dr Smith is simply the most outstanding role model for our boys.
‘ I would also like to thank all of you. From the boys in Prep to the boys in Year 12, you all made this the special day it was. I hope the joy of giving sticks with you.
‘ My final thank you is to our indigenous lads.
As Billy Joel sings in his immortal classic hit: We didn’ t start the fire It was always burning since the world’ s been turning We didn’ t start the fire No, we didn’ t light it, but we tried to fight it.‘ Thank you for adding so much to life at Scotch. Thank you, too, for enabling all Scotch boys to interact with, learn from and develop what we hope will be lifelong friendships with you, as we strive to raise sufficient funds to endow the Scotch College Indigenous Scholarship Program in perpetuity.
‘ Thank you for allowing us still to make the distinction between indigenous and nonindigenous boys in order to achieve the larger goal down the track when no such distinction needs to be made. You have participated so willingly and enthusiastically in promoting this cause, and your efforts will help ensure that we can bring this ideal to reality. Thank you.
‘ It now gives me great pleasure to present this cheque for $ 1,287,985 to the school on behalf of the Scotch College Foundation and the Scotch Family.’
Thank you, Scotch. We now have our first fully endowed indigenous scholarship. TIM SHEARER – DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT
www. scotch. vic. edu. au Great Scot 31