CHARTER

The Charter of the Foundation Committee is to raise $4 million for the construction and furnishing of a new student residence to be built on St Leo's property within the University of Queensland.  The new residence will comprise accommodation of 36 shared ensuited rooms, 4 ensuited units, 2 of which would cater for disabled persons, a laundry for those residents and an accommodation unit for three Christian Brothers.

VISION

St Leo's College, situated within the University of Queensland, plans to build a new accommodation wing for 40 residents, a new laundry and quarters for the three Christian Brothers on site.

Established in 1917, the College has a lengthy tradition as a welcoming Catholic academic community. St Leo's primary goal has been to cater for the needs of those students who are obliged to live away from home to attend the University of their choice. This goal is still valid with nearly all Australian students at St Leo's coming from outside Brisbane, extending from the far north (Cairns) to northern New South Wales as far south as Inverell and Casino.

St Leo's also caters for overseas students; the balance being approximately 95% Australian and 5% International. Residents have a wonderful opportunity to mix and to share with people from a wide variety of backgrounds and histories.

The Trustees of the College are the Catholic Bishops of Queensland. On their behalf, the College is administered by the Christian Brothers, of whom three are resident in the College. The Christian Brothers, founded by Blessed Edmund Rice in Ireland 1802, have a worldwide history of dedication to the care of young people, particularly in the field of education.

Empowered by the Queensland Bishops, the College Council is responsible for the governance of the College. The Council, chaired by Mrs Joan Sheldon AM, former Deputy Premier and Treasurer of Queensland, focuses particularly on a vision for the College, oversight of policies and approval of the Budget. In this capacity, Mrs Joan Sheldon is Chair of the newly established Foundation Committee.

The new accommodation wing, M Block, would connect to L Block and run parallel to the tennis/basketball court utilising existing carpark space.

In recent years, St Leo's has enjoyed a surge in popularity such that each year progressively more applicants are being turned away for lack of space. Fortunately, St Leo's is set within large expansive tree-filled grounds that allow the College to build without impacting on the relaxed country atmosphere of the College. In 2006, 30 applicants were turned away; in 2007, 60. In addition, the rush for places is such that Leo's was filled for 2007 by 7 November 2006.

The College would propose to build a three storey accommodation wing including 36 shared ensuited rooms and 4 ensuited rooms, 2 of which are ‘disabled' units for residents, a laundry plus an accommodation unit for the three Christian Brothers living on site. Currently, the Brothers live in bedrooms near the Administration offices. An estimate of costs for ‘M Block' would be approximately $4 million.

This project is a worthy recipient of donors' generosity to the M Block Foundation because in so doing, donors are supporting those country families who live and work outside Brisbane, who need by virtue of distance to send their sons away from home to further their university studies. St Leo's has been committed since 1917 to support the country community in their efforts to educate their sons. St Leo's is still so committed and requires financial support to realise such. All donations to "St Leo's College Building Fund" are 100% tax deductible.

Within the normal bounds of budget including fee income and supplementary fundraising and the St Leo's Catering / Conferencing Business, the College is able to care for its residents, to maintain and to upgrade current facilities without any margin for a major capital project, namely ‘M' Block. Hence, the need of a Foundation to construct ‘M' Block.