Philanthropy
The notion of giving is integral to all that we are. We believe that generosity of spirit, time and money benefits all and supports a more equitable world.
in 2012 we established Scarlet’s Fund to celebrate the memory of our daughter. We had great support in establishing this fund, operated by The Australia Communities Foundation, from the Myer family in Melbourne who hosted two key fundraising events for us at Cranlana. Special friends have travelled with us on the journey, including Zoe Knighton (who Scarlet used to babysit for). We now host a residency every year for the Flinders Quartet Young composer program.
Scarlet’s fund
Scarlet Spain 14.4.91 - 5.4.12
Scarlet was a musician, singer, writer and traveller and was a passionate believer in social justice – and a student at The University of Melbourne studying Arts. She squeezed an extraordinary amount into her life and was much loved by all who knew her. On March 31st, 2012, Scarlet fell through a roof at a party in Melbourne. She died of her injuries five days later on April 5th, just before her 21st birthday.
Scarlet is the daughter of Simon Spain and Victoria Ryle and sister of Georgia (01.10.1993). This fund has been established by them in her name to support some initiatives that she would be proud of and to continue the tradition of bringing beauty through the arts to people, particularly in developing communities.
Scarlet’s gift
In 2013 the Monkstown Education National School (METNS) together school in Ireland embarked on a five year arts-in-residence programme to be funded by Scarlet’s gift.
METNS 1997 with Scarlet highlighted.
Simon and Victoria were instrumental in establishing METNS and Scarlet was in the first class in the school in 1997. At METN, the arts has always had a prominent position in the school curriculum. After Scarlet’s death a small group of friends from Dublin got together to support a residency program in her name.
“The residency programme is a key part of the tradition of the school’s commitment to the arts , to the wider field of creativity and to the idea that children’s lives can be significantly enriched by contact with professionals with special gifts and the inclination to share them with young people.”
A mosaic from the class of 2010 with artist Orla Kaminska
You can download a full PDF of the book here. (Coming soon)
Recipients 2019-20
Scarlet’s Fund hosted no fundraising events in 2019, instead regrouping with the support of the Australian Communities Foundation (ACF) in which the fund sits. The ACF has given our family the support and encouragement we needed to lay out a longer term plan for the Fund and help to clarify a giving strategy over the next few years. Each year we intend to make donations without effecting the corpus of funds, occasionally running fundraising events and by selling Scarlet’s Prints to increase that corpus.
As a consequence of this in 2019 Scarlet’s Fund made four financial donations. The intentions of the fund were established very soon after Scarlet’s death and in 2019 we have realigned the giving strategy with the help of her sister Georgia, to better represent the issues she felt Scarlet would be passionate about now. This does not mark a major change in direction rather a better nuancing of the grants we give.
As a consequence of this in 2019 Scarlet’s Fund made four financial donations. In 2019 the Australian Communities Foundation made the following grants on behalf of Scarlet’s Fund.
Documentary Australia Foundation: For the following films from the Stories With Impact event on 3 April 2019: Geeta ($500), The Lake of Scars ($500), Backtrack Boys ($500) https://documentaryaustralia.com.au/project/geeta/
Human Rights Law Centre: Staff salaries on the ‘All Schools Same Rules’ joint campaign with Equality Australia ($2,000)
https://equalityaustralia.org.au/all-schools-same-rules/
Margaret Tucker Hostel For Girls Inc: – supports homeless Aboriginal young women ($2,500)
https://www.facebook.com/MTHFairfield/
Girls Rock! Melbourne Inc: Amplifying the voices of female, trans, and gender diverse youth through music education and positive mentorship. ($2,500) http://www.girlsrockmelbourne.com/home
In addition we hosted Jet Kye Long, awarded the Scarlet’s Fund residency for the Flinders Quartet composer project, in residence at our house for a week.