The Father Bob Maguire Foundation has recently begun a new initiative to address the problems of ‘Digital Poverty’ within marginalised communities.  Digital Poverty has been defined as the inability to access, understand, use and innovate with technology in a meaningful and productive way due to financial, social and or personal barriers.

We encourage and build on STEAM skills in children through our hands-on programs.  STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths and are the core subjects for skill development for future careers.

We believe we can address some of the learning gaps faced by marginalised children and welcome the support of institutions, schools, organisations, churches and individuals.  We run a number of learning sessions for children living in the inner-city public housing commission flats, Skinner’s Adventure Playground, at the local libraries and for at risk children and youths from the Prahan Youth Hub and at the St Kilda Police and Citizen’s Youth Club (PCYC).

We have successfully reached over 2000 children for STEAM education since starting in April 2019. 

We have also embarked on a 'Distance Education' model in light of the Covid-19 outbreak that is causing early school closures, limited access to services and unemployment issues for our marginalised communities.

In 2020 we sent out over 200+ STEAM learning kits to families from the Prahan Youth Hub, Banksia Gardens Community Services, Kensington Neighbourhood House and Skinners Playground area who had limited access to wifi and educational resources. We are working closely with the community centers, schools and the council to ensure the learning kits are going to the families experiencing the most disadvantage.  We have also provided STEAM online zoom sessions for groups of children.  

If you would like your school or community centre to be involved in receiving these services and support - please email: Ms Yen Siow yen@fatherbobs.com