Despite an unprecedented year of challenges but with the continued and unwavering support of club members, Liverpool Catholic Club has again been able to award four education scholarships to students from the local area.
Following a 50th Anniversary Members’ mass and luncheon at the Hoxton Park Rd Club in Prestons, those students from the four eligible schools – All Saints Senior College, Freeman Catholic College, Good Samaritan Catholic College, Clancy Catholic College – who were able to attend were presented with their scholarships. The recipients present included students from both 2019 and 2020, as last year’s awards were postponed due to COVID-19 regulations.
The scholarships are offered to the Dux of each of the schools and are part of the Club’s broader scholarship donations program. Each scholarship includes $6,500, which goes towards their first-year University fees, plus $800 towards book fees.
Liverpool Catholic Club was able to contribute more than $680,000 in community donations during 2020, taking the total to more than $25 million in community donations over the last 50 years. Of those donations, the Liverpool Catholic Club Education Scholarships have been in place since 1992, with earlier bursaries existing since 1972 and were originally $25 for families earning less than $5,000 a year. Since 2003, the Club has so far provided $1.4 million in scholarship support.
“The All Saints Catholic College K-12 community are proud of our well-established and long-standing partnership with the Liverpool Catholic Club,” All Saints Catholic College Executive Principal Daniel McInerney said. “Their tangible support assists individual students, families and the entire K-12 community by a variety of means; both financial and through in-kind support.
“Ensuring both our College and the schools in the local community are well supported, highlights what to me is the mandate of the Club, to give back to the local community of which they were formed. The scholarship program for the College Dux is one such action.
“Supporting the young people who will become the future leaders and innovators of the community in which they belong is evidence of the efforts of the directors of the club to support our local talent. The effect of this program may be hard to measure and quantify, but surely the ripple effect will be seen for years to come.”
From an original 300 Members, today the Club has more than 54,000 Members and premises that include a hotel, sporting fields, skate rink, state-of-the-art theatre and The Laneway dining precinct and indoor playground.
In addition to COVID-19 shutdowns, the Club also faced major changes in the past 12 months with the retirement after 36 years of General Manager Mr John Turnbull and the sudden and unexpected passing of Club President Michael Coffey OAM in January.
“John oversaw many years of growth at the Liverpool Catholic Club and with dedicated Boards transformed the Club into the showpiece it is today. The Board, management, staff and members wish John a happy and long retirement,” said new Club President Greg Richardson.
“Michael had been a member of the Liverpool Catholic Club since June 1998 and was appointed to the Board in February 2004. He was Assistant Treasurer from 2004 until 2015 and Vice President from 2015 to 2016. In 2016 Michael was appointed as Club President and held that position up until his passing.”
The Education Scholarship recipients are:
DUX of the Colleges for 2019:
All Saints Catholic Senior College: Daniel Breitenberger. Daniel scored an ATAR of 98.45 and he is currently studying for a “Bachelor of Applied Science (Diagnostic Radiography) at the University of Sydney.
Freeman Catholic College: Nhi Vu. Nhi scored an ATAR of 99.6 and she is currently studying for a Bachelor of Medical Science at UNSW.
Good Samaritan Catholic College: Erin Andrew. Erin scored an ATAR of 98.85 and she is currently studying a Bachelor of Engineering Honours (Civil construction) Diploma in Professional Engineering Practice.
Clancy Catholic College: Chelsea Du Buisson-Perrine. Chelsea scored an ATAR of 99.5 and she is currently studying a Bachelor of Law/Bachelor of Business at Western Sydney University.
DUX of the Colleges for 2020:
All Saints Catholic Senior College: Manhua Lu. Manhua scored an ATAR of 96.6 and she is currently studying for a Bachelor of Commerce and Computer Science at the University of NSW.
Freeman Catholic College: Vincent Nguyen. Vincent scored an ATAR of 99.75 and he is currently studying a double degree; a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) / Bachelor of Computer Science at UNSW.
Good Samaritan Catholic College: Fadi Jan. Fadi scored an ATAR of 99.05 and he is currently studying a Bachelor of Software Engineering (Honours) at UNSW.
Clancy Catholic College: Ashley Simonetta. Ashley scored an ATAR of 97.1 and she is currently studying a Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Sydney.