Canon Oceania Launches 2017 Grants Program - Inspiring Tomorrow

SYDNEY, Monday 5^th June 2017: On World Environment Day, Canon Oceania is excited to announce that its inaugural Grants Program - Inspiring Tomorrow, is now open for applications. The program intends to support schools and not-for-profit groups who are addressing issues that are impacting the environment or society to make a positive difference in their communities. Canon believes in empowering every person and community to strive towards a better tomorrow, supporting causes that look to improve our world.

Canon is offering over $30,000 worth of grants made up of Canon equipment in-kind across Australia and New Zealand within Environmental, Education and Community sectors. The winners will be selected based on the positive impact their project will have on their environment or community, as well as the importance of Canon products to the project’s success.

“Canon is thrilled to launch our new Grants Program - Inspiring Tomorrow, which brings to life our corporate philosophy of Kyosei, meaning ‘living and working together for the common good’. Canon supports those making a positive contribution in their communities and wants to empower them with the tools to share their story.”

“Each year we’re humbled by the selfless acts of not-for-profit organisations, schools, environmental and community programs, and we are excited to broaden the program this year to also give a helping hand to those addressing social issues and encourage anyone who fits this criteria to apply,” said Yusuke Mizoguchi, Managing Director, Canon Oceania.

Living Ocean (NSW), won the 2016 Environmental Grant in the Community Category, receiving $5,000 worth of Canon devices and equipment including a digital camera and a video recorder. These devices went towards their mission to raises awareness of human impact on oceanic health through two key projects; a marine studies program that monitors ocean wildlife and a beach clean-up campaign called ‘No Plastic Please’.

Robbi Newman, Founder of Living Ocean said, “We were grateful to receive two Canon cameras, the XC10 and the G3X, which have allowed us to raise awareness of the fragility of our oceans and to highlight the need to care for them. We use the equipment to document Shearwater populations and the impact of plastics in their diet plus population effects from overfishing on Lord Howe Island. The cameras provide both portability and extraordinary range of image capture for our beach clean ups, events and wildlife monitoring exercises. Winning the 2016 Canon Grant has meant we don’t have to rely on borrowed equipment to communicate the importance of ocean sustainability.”

This year the grants will be awarded under the following categories:

Australia

• 1 x Environmental Grant - $5,000
• 1 x Education Grant - $5,000
• 1 x Community Grant - $5,000
• 1 x Runner-up Grant - $1,000

New Zealand

• 1 x Environmental Grant - NZ$5,000
• 1 x Education Grant - NZ$5,000
• 1 x Community Grant - NZ$5,000

Applications are open from now until Friday 4^th August with the winners announced by Friday 29^th September.