Over 60 years, the Bush Children’s Education Foundation of NSW has financially supported 3,000 rural students through school and university.
Story Kirsty McKenzie Photo Amelia Donnelly
Orange Hospital registered nurse Amelia Donnelly says she doubts she’d be in the wards today if it weren’t for the support she’s received from the BCEF (Bush Children’s Education Foundation of NSW). Although she was too young to be aware at the time, the organisation’s investment in her education began with a bursary so she could complete her high schooling as a weekly boarder at Red Bend Catholic College in Forbes, NSW.
“I was 11 when my dad, who was a police officer at Condobolin, passed away,” she explains. “That left Mum as a single mother supporting three kids and they were tough times for our family. Mum worked at the Catholic school in Condo but, without the BCEF help, I doubt if she would have been able to afford for me to have the extra opportunities going to boarding school provided.”
The BCEF was established in 1965 when Dr Charles Huxtable, who had served as a medical officer in both world wars, was working for the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Broken Hill and recognised the issues regional and remote families experienced accessing education. He convinced his friends, the then chief justice of NSW Sir Leslie Herron, federal politician Ian Sinclair and mine manager at Broken Hill Zinc Corporation Ian Hardy to start what was initially called the Bush Children’s Hostel Foundation. The first project was a purpose-built boarding hostel in Tibooburra so remote children could attend school.
Sixty years down the track, the foundation has supported more than 3,000 students, with scholarships and rural boarding bursaries worth more than $3 million.
This story excerpt is from issue #164
Outback Magazine: Dec/Jan 2026
