Whitney Cheffirs awarded VERTO and CEF of Australia scholarship

Kangaroo Island resident Whitney Cheffirs has been awarded a $2,000 scholarship from not-for-profit apprenticeship, employment and training services provider, VERTO, and the Country Education Foundation of Australia (CEF).

The funding was made available to acknowledge and celebrate National Skills Week (21-27 August), and will support Ms Cheffirs to purchase new resources as she undertakes a Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care (online).

“This scholarship means a lot to me. The extra money will go towards a new laptop and printer and help me complete my training faster,” she said.

With the award of Ms Cheffirs scholarship VERTO’s total financial support of CEF and regional apprentices and trainees is at more than $30,000. 

“At VERTO, we pride ourselves on changing lives every day, and we’re really proud to have supported 12 deserving regional youth through the CEF in the last three years,” said VERTO CEO Ron Maxwell.

“We know there are additional challenges for rural and regional students that can lead to education and employment gaps and have a range of impacts on local communities. The work CEF is doing to close these gaps is vital and incredibly worthy of our support.”

Mr Maxwell congratulated Whitney saying she is “a hardworking and very talented young trainee going places in the childcare sector, so we’re delighted to help support her learning journey”.

CEF CEO Juliet Petersen said VERTO’s support continued to make a huge difference for rural and regional students.

“CEF is excited to continue our partnership with VERTO and to provide financial relief to regional students undertaking apprenticeships, traineeships and vocational training,” Ms Petersen said.

“For CEF, working with VERTO is a great step forward in promoting all types of post-school education, and as an organisation that services rural and regional Australia, we recognise the importance of acknowledging wonderful young people like Whitney in fostering and promoting the aspirations and educational success of youth across the communities in which we operate.” 

To learn more about CEF, visit www.cef.org.au.

VERTO is a not-for-profit organisation delivering a range of apprenticeship, community support, employment and training services to assist individuals, employers and industries, found in more than 65 locations across New South Wales. For more information, visit www.verto.org.au