Our Impact

Story Factory

A story factory in Western Sydney

$106,666

to employ a grant writer, building fundraising capacity to enable the establishment of a new centre in Parramatta, Western Sydney.

Story Factory (SF) provides free creative writing tuition for young
people experiencing disadvantage from their home base, The Martian Embassy in Redfern. Since opening their doors in 2012, SF has enrolled over 10,500 students and provided more than 41,000 hours of free tuition.

In 2016, SF announced their ambition to open a centre in Parramatta driven by the growing demand they have from Western Sydney. SF will work with local schools and community groups to create a unique space for young people that will nurture literacy and creativity, enhance self-confidence and deepen their engagement with learning.

Encouraged by their successful track record, strong fundraising strategy and excited by the interest from Western Sydney communities, VFFF supported SF to employ a grant writer to catalyse their next period of growth.

"The support we have received from VFFF has been critical to our rapid growth – first, with our development manager, and now with our grant writer. We have doubled our fundraising in the last year, which will allow us to open in Parramatta in 2018. Not all funders understand the importance of capacity building, but the VFFF’s approach is ultimately what will enable us to help thousands more young people in years to come."

Catherine Keenan, Executive Director

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