ROTARY CLUB OF GLENORCHY

GILLIGAN SCHOLARSHIP

This project had its beginnings back in 1992 when Mrs Margaret Brinckman was writing a weekly feature for the Mercury under the banner “Lend a Hand”.

The articles were aimed primarily at young people and were about how to find and keep a job and various other matters relating to employment.

At this time there was significant unemployment in Tasmania and it was also an era of rapid change in the labour market.

Margaret Brinckman was employed as the State journalist for the Department of Employment, Education and Training (DEET). She previously had a teaching background before moving into journalism.

The weekly Mercury articles were very well received and in fact won in 1992 the Pacific Region International Award for Excellence in Community Service.

Following discussions with and encouragement from then District Governor, Leigh Milburn, a Committee was formed to develop the idea of publishing the articles as a collection.

The Rotary Club of Glenorchy made a significant decision at the time to underwrite the printing of the articles. This decision saw the outlay of $17,673 and involvement in the Management Committee for the project.

The collection, titled Positive Steps, your self help guide to getting and keeping a job, was completed in mid 1993, with a print run of 5,000.

The intention was to sell the books, primarily to secondary schools and other education facilities. Purity and Roelf Vos outlets throughout the State were also used.

Financially, we intended to recoup the monies outlaid by Glenorchy Rotary, with any surplus to be used to create a scholarship for children moving from year 10 to years 11 and 12.

The scholarship was to have a leaning towards assisting a student whose circumstances were such that the scholarship would ease hardship being experienced by the family, be it financial or social.

Sales of Positive Steps were slower than anticipated. We really lacked a strong marketer or a person with the time to really sell the benefits of the book.

By 1998 we had recouped some $14,000 of the funding outlaid by Glenorchy Rotary.

And again, the community spirit of the Club shone through when a decision was made to use these monies to create the Gilligan Scholarship. The name Gilligan is Margaret Brinckman’s maiden name.

Margaret fondly spoke of the sacrifices made by her parents to provide her with a good education and she was deeply moved when the decision was made to create the Gilligan Scholarship.

In June 2001The Rotary Club contributed a further $7,000 to the Scholarship Fund to ensure that it is self funding into the future.

The first scholarship of $1,000 a year for two years was awarded in 1999 to Adele Griffiths from Rosetta High.

In 2001 we were unable to separate Letisha Norris from Rosetta High and Scott Burton from Cosgrove High. Each of them were awarded the scholarship in 2001 and 2002, a total of $4,000.

The Gilligan Scholar for 2003/2004 was Angela Smith from Cosgrove High School. Angela achieved excellent results in Years 11 and 12 and is presently undertaking a Nursing Degree course at the University Campus in Launceston. She regularly keeps in touch and continues to be most appreciative of the support provided by Rotary.

The latest Scholar (2005/2006) is Kimberley Martin from Rosetta High School. Kimberley’s ambition is to undertake a Law Degree, specialising in Family Law. Her particular situation epitomises what the Scholarship was created for i.e. helping a student whose circumstances are such that without our assistance, further study would be somewhat of a family financial burden.

Since the inception of the Gilligan Scholarship, the Rotary Club has provided total funding of $10,000. Margaret Brinckman continues to take a keen interest in the Scholarship and always attends events when the new Scholar is announced.

Applications will be called later this year for a new scholarship for 2007/2008.

The Gilligan Scholarship has been a very worthwhile project and has greatly assisted in projecting Rotary’s community profile in a lasting way.

KERRY BOWERMAN

CHAIRMAN - 02/07/2006

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