A CONTRIBUTION of almost $1 million from Rio Tinto has provided a major fillip to the continued success of Australia’s most comprehensive family literacy program.
Rio renewed its partnership with the State Library of Western Australia’s acclaimed Better Beginnings partnership, donating $980,000 for a further four years of support last week.
Since 2005, including this latest instalment, Rio has donated $2.78 million to the literacy program.
Rio Tinto iron ore chief executive Andrew Harding said the funding partnership would allow the Better Beginnings program to keep engaging young children with books, particularly through its services for disadvantaged families and Aboriginal families.
“For Rio Tinto, Better Beginnings is a treasured partnership. It has brought books into the homes of all Western Australian families so children can experience the joy of reading from their very first days of life,” he said.
“It has also reinforced the important role that reading plays in early childhood development, while helping parents and children bond.”
Better Beginnings also receives support from state and local governments and reaches more than 450,000 WA families as well as 85 per cent of kindergarten students and 138 remote Aboriginal communities.
