The Milne and Smith Fund was established in 2025 to support social justice, environmental justice and LGBTQIA+ communities in Melbourne’s inner north.
It is a perpetual fund. What goes in is invested and stays invested. Every year, forever, it grants out what it earns.
A donation made today will still be doing something in fifty years, long after we’re gone.
A donation made today will still be doing something in fifty years, long after we’re gone.
We’re Tony and Nic, and we live in Brunswick. Between us we’ve watched what happens when a small amount of money reaches the right group at the right moment, and we’ve watched how often that money simply isn’t there.
We wanted to do something about that in a way that didn’t depend on us remembering, or on us still being around.
So the Fund supports three things:
- Social justice. Supporting adult education and pathways into work for people who are locked out, whether by poverty, insecure housing, visa status or disability. Our grants go to Carlton Neighbourhood Learning Centre.
- Environmental justice. Backing local groups taking climate action in ways that don’t leave low income households behind. Our grants go to Friends of the Earth.
- LGBTQIA+ communities. Supporting the spaces that keep queer and trans people connected and visible. Our grants go to Melbourne Pride Chorus.
These are organisations we know and believe in, and the Fund is built to keep supporting them long after we’re able to.
The Inner North Community Foundation looks after the investment and makes the grants each year.
If you’ve arrived here because one of us sent you a link, thank you. Any amount helps, it’s tax deductible, and it stays.