Oasis Magazine - Cairns & Tropical North Queensland Issue 28 - Feb | Mar 2019 | Page 56

Happy 25th Birthday BLA!
Twenty-five years ago, Angela Toppin realised that
as an educator more had to be done to address
the disadvantage for rural and regional secondary
school students in seeking tertiary education
and further training in capital cities. What could
be done to empower these students to broaden
their career options and ‘give them wings to fly’?
Angela Toppin, a former Principal of Cairns State
High School, who is very passionate about
broadening opportunities for young people, devel-
oped the Business Liaison Association to bridge the
gap between school leavers and the business
community. For the past 25 years Ms Toppin has
held the position of Chairperson alongside an Execu-
tive Committee consisting of dedicated industry
professionals from Cairns and surrounding regions.
In the beginning Ms Toppin persevered, and as
many of her colleagues in education would say,
“She nagged some poor public servant in the
Department of Education for so long they capitulated
and agreed to provide ‘start-up’ funding of $2000”.
ASSOCIATION
So, in the first year the BLA raised $16 000 in
corporate funding. The first corporate sponsors
were: Department of Education, Cairns Port
Authority (now Ports North) and Cairns Region
Group Training (now Skill30 Australia). These
wonderful sponsors have continually supported
these initiatives for 25 years which has now
increased to a total of 39 corporate sponsors!
Fast forward to 2018 and there is over 12,000
students participating in 37 programs and events, 47
awards and competitions (and growing) with an
incredibly strong sponsorship base to support all
this. The future is very sustainable with a passionate
and committed team.
In 2018 the Business Liaison Association celebrated
25 years of incorporation and 25 years of ‘making a
difference’ for young people. Their mission
statement is “To encourage and provide secondary
schools with relevant up to date knowledge,
skills and resources to meet the current and
future demands of the business community”.