A lunch that lasts far beyond Friday
We’re thrilled to announce a $10,000 donation to the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation, thanks to this year’s Big Dry Friday.
The annual fundraising event, an initiative of The Morgans Foundation, encourages city workers to donate the cost of a Friday lunch or drinks. The idea is simple but powerful. It turns a small gesture into big impact for communities living with drought and the realities of life on the land.
This donation will directly support leadership opportunities in rural, regional and remote Australia. That means more people gaining the skills, support and confidence to lead change and back their communities through challenge and change.
It’s a reminder that leadership isn’t always loud. It often starts quietly in small towns, on country roads, around kitchen tables when someone decides to step up and make a difference.
To every Big Dry Friday donor, thank you. You’re helping build resilience and leadership capacity where it’s needed most. And thank you to The Morgans Foundation for backing the bush, not just this particular Friday, but into the future.
Got something special? Donate an auction item for NT leadership
Have a one-of-a-kind experience, handmade item, or meaningful gift you’d like to share? We’re calling on our community to donate auction items for a special fundraising event this October.
ARLF Fellow Donna Digby is leading a Leadership on Larapinta fundraising walk to support the Territory Connect Scholarship. This scholarship helps someone from the Northern Territory participate in the Australian Rural Leadership Program (ARLP).
The auction will be held at the Red Centre Rural Ladies Day in Alice Springs, in celebration of International Rural Women’s Day on 15 October.
All proceeds will go directly towards the scholarship. That means your donated item could help someone connected and ready for leadership take the next step.
If you’d like to donate an item or learn more, please contact Donna at territoryconnect@gmail.com Every contribution counts.
Keeping Bruce Simpson’s legacy alive
A year on from Bruce Simpson’s passing, his family, friends and community are honouring his memory with action.
Together, they’ve launched the Bruce Simpson Rural Scholarship a bold $2 million campaign to create a perpetual scholarship for the Australian Rural Leadership Program (ARLP).
Bruce was an ARLP alum, a generous mentor, and someone who quietly encouraged others to lead. Now, people from paddocks to boardrooms are stepping up to continue the work he believed in.
Michael’s North Channel challenge
For Michael Powell, Bruce was more than a brother-in-law. He was a mentor, a steady hand, and a close friend.
“After my own dad passed,” says Michael, “Bruce was the one I turned to. He was generous, wise and humble. A steady presence in his community and in my life.”
To honour Bruce, Michael is swimming the North Channel from Northern Ireland to Scotland. It’s colder than the English Channel and fewer than 120 people have ever made the crossing.
His goal is to raise $100,000 for the scholarship. We wish Michael courage, strength and calm seas.
Support Michael’s swim
Lach’s Mongol Derby mission
Meanwhile, in a very different test of endurance, Lach MacKinnon is taking the reins—literally.
At 50, he’s riding in the Mongol Derby, the world’s toughest horse race, to raise $20,000 for the Bruce Simpson Rural Scholarship Fund.
“I never met Bruce,” says Lach. “But I know his family. I’ve seen what a legacy of rural leadership can look like.”
Lach grew up on a farm in Tasmania and has worked with horses his whole life. From cattle country to polo fields, they’ve shaped who he is.
“If me pushing through saddle sores and sleep deprivation can help fund someone else’s leadership journey,” says Lach, “that’s a trade I’ll gladly make.”
Good luck, Lach. We’ll be cheering you on every gallop of the way.
Support Lach’s ride
Small actions, lasting impact
Across Australia, people are stepping up in different ways by giving their time, their talents or their tenacity. They’re showing that backing rural leadership isn’t about grand gestures. It’s about showing up, over and over again.
We’re grateful to everyone who’s donated, fundraised, auctioned or ridden in support of ARLF scholarships. Your support helps unlock leadership in people and places often overlooked. It grows the kind of capability that makes communities stronger, more connected and ready for whatever comes next.
Let’s keep backing the bush and the people who lead it forward.
