At a function on the 7th December 2005, the Superintendent of Parramatta Mission, Brian Smith, welcomed the Bank of Queensland Parramatta as the Mission's newest Bronze Corporate Citizen.

The Schools Colouring Competition, as part of the 2005 Festival of Trees, has proven to be a huge success and embraced by many of the leading local schools.

The quality of the submissions has been outstanding and the judges have had a very difficult time in selecting the winners.

The students from Redeemer Baptist School who recently received their certificates are:
First Prize - Cheneg Torres
Highly Commended - Leonard Cheung, Benjamin Gibson, Grace Hwang, Camila Lievano, Eric Ling, Christian Nassar, Claire Ongley, Alex Park, David Poyitt, Tessa Simmon, Elijah Wu and Sophia Yoo.

The students from St Anthony's School who recently received their certificates are:
First Prize - Jade Caelli
Highly Commended - Emma Morgan, Britanny Henderson, Gemma Prendergast, Dianne Moya, Josh Abela, Isabel Marchesse and Andrew Laurie.

The students from Holy Trinity Primary School who recently received their certificates are:
First Prize - Jessica Joseph
Highly Commended - John Sleiman, Taylor Azar, Renee Roumanos, Michael Nguyen, Kristy Manassa, Rebecca Ciclovan, Danny Hanna, Raphaella Chidiac, Chehade Maroun, Jasmina Barakat, Joseph Joseph and Anna Chen.

The students from Sacred Heart Primary School who recently received their certificates are:
First Prize - Mary-Jade Owusu-Ansah
Highly Commended - Samantha McDonald, Michelle Salem, Andre Clemente, Niamh Shipley, Patrick Fand, Charbel Dagher, Olivia Axiak, Zoe Yanz, Alex Nakhoul, Danielle Mazza, Luke Bagatella and Valeria Udan.

The students from St Oliver's Primary School who recently received their certificates are:
First Prize - Divyanshi Vashist
Highly Commended - Aishwarya Cherian, Samantha Kumar and A. J. Timbol.

The students from Alice Betteridge School who recently received their certificates are:
First Prize - Samuel Tremethick
Highly Commended - Tiana Al'Chami, Chris Nahkle, Kirsten Cook, Renee Farhart, Zia Nasiry, Dale Speechley, Jerrah Patston, Niall Cain, Pranay Peter, Tiarn Stone-Killalea, Sarah-Jane Russell, Zachary O'Keefe, Nicki Walker, Bradley Farrell and Tom Farrell.

Parramatta Mission launched its 2005 Annual Report at a Corporate Citizen Networking Function held on Thursday 10th November at Courtyard by Marriott Parramatta.

This year's report is themed "partnerships for transformation".

Click here to download our Annual Report..

Our Lifeline Book Fair held on the 13th, 14th and 15th May was a great success, raising nearly $20,000 for our 24/7 crisis telephone counselling centre. Thank you to all our supporters who assisted with book donations and promotion. Based on this success and with the book donations continuing to flow in, we plan to hold another one from 27th to 30th October 2005.

Parramatta's Biggest Charity Auction supporting Parramatta Mission, held on the 24th June, was a HUGE success and raised nearly $50,000 for our work with women and children made homeless as a result of domestic violence.

This excellent result wouldn't have been possible without the outstanding and generous assistance of our wonderful team of Corporate Citizens. So thanks to everyone involved. We really appreciate your support!

The format of the night proved to be very exciting with all those in attendance actively participating in the buying frenzy. The good news for those who missed out is that we are planning to continue with a similar theme next year.