Despite not having a naming rights sponsor this year, the Energy Breakthrough event at Maryborough will continue into the future.
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Major sponsor RACV dropped out in April after 26 years, citing changes to sponsorship agreements.
In 2017, the Central Goldfields Shire Council was dismissed by the Local Government Inspectorate, and chief executive Mark Johnston will face court in December.
The council remains a major partner for the event, and received a grant from the state government to develop a business case.
Shire administrator Hugh Delahunty said the event was a “huge benefit” for the region.
“It’s a major logistical operation for the shire, and the grant from the state government will help to tailor the event into the future,” he said.
A council spokesperson said the event was one of seven key projects in the Central Goldfields Shire Priority Projects Plan
“The funding will mean the business plan process will commence shortly in preparation for the 2019 event, and will focus on attracting new partners and will also look at expansion of the event to increase participation,” they said.
Other partners, like the Country Education Partnership, are looking at the situation as an opportunity to bring new perspectives to help grow the event.
CEP chief executive Phil Brown said bringing STEM (science, technology, engineering, and maths) initiatives to rural and remote areas was hard enough.
“Do we need a naming rights sponsor or do we engage with a greater number of partnerships?” he said, noting some partners helped build capacity for students and teachers.
“For example, La Trobe University provides financial assistance, but also personnel and expertise to run workshops in schools.”
Thousands of children, from 370 schools, will descend on Maryborough next week.
The headline events are the endurance races, with teams racing in shifts.
Delacombe Primary School is participating for the first time, and teacher Anthony Cross said developing the pedal-powered racing vehicles, and getting the teams fit and ready, has taken most of the year.
“It costs a lot of money to get it going, the bike’s worth about $5000 - we bought the main bike second-hand and built one from scratch, next year we’ll build our own and learn mechanics,” he said.
“Hopefully, for the grade six students, it will be something they can look back on as one of their best memories from primary school.”
The Energy Breakthrough is an important part of Caledonian Primary School’s curriculum, and the opportunity to become a team member is hotly contested each year.
“We’ve got kids in grade one and two who aspire to be on the team when they are older,” coordinator Prue Morrison said.
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