Cultural organisations and businesses from metropolitan and suburban Melbourne and regional Victoria are among the winners and finalists of the annual Australia Business Arts Foundation (AbaF) Awards in Victoria, announced on the evening of 15 September 2009 at the Sofitel in Melbourne.

The AbaF Awards honour the best relationships between business and the arts in the areas of partnering, volunteering and giving.

Among the winners are a quirky project which saw specially-knitted items secretly placed on Melbourne trams by guerrilla craftworkers as part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival.

The Song Room, which provides top-quality musical experiences to thousands of children, won an award to mark its successful fundraising.

And V/Line partnered with Castlemaine State Festival to sponsor special concerts that attracted travellers to take the train into regional Victoria

There are six winners at state level. The Victorian winners and national finalists will go on to the national AbaF Awards to be announced on 15 October in Brisbane.

The winners of AbaF Awards in Victoria are:

• MARSH PARTNERING AWARD: Melbourne Fringe & Yarra Trams
• QANTASLINK REGIONAL AWARD : Castlemaine State Festival & V/Line
  
• ABAF SME AWARD: Bendigo Community Telco & Bendigo Youth Choir Inc 
  
• ABAF GIVING AWARD: The Song Room
  
• ABAF BUSINESS VOLUNTEERING AWARD:  Southern Cross Philharmonia Orchestra & Shey Newitt
  
• TOYOTA COMMUNITY AWARD: Western region artists, Hobsons Bay Council & Hobsons Bay businesses

Contact: Trudi Sheppard: (03) 9616 0311 / 0413 285 863

More info about the winners on next page
 
INFORMATION ABOUT THE WINNERS:

ABAF SME AWARD: Bendigo Community Telco & Bendigo Youth Choir Inc 
Bendigo Community Telco paid for the recording of a CD to be used in fundraising for Bendigo Youth Choir's European tour. The company also highlighted the choir in its local television advertising, performing its own song "We Believe in Bendigo". 

ABAF GIVING AWARD: The Song Room
The Song Room has delivered arts education programs for disadvantaged children in every Australian state and territory thanks to community grants from the Foster's Group. Foster's support has also helped The Song Room build relationships with other major supporters.

ABAF BUSINESS VOLUNTEERING AWARD: Southern Cross Philharmonia Orchestra & Shey Newitt
Corporate consultant Shey Newitt brings commercial know-how and governance expertise to her role as a director of Southern Cross Philharmonia Orchestra. She and colleagues from KPMG have created a strategic development plan which will assist the orchestra raise more funds to promote Australian musical talent.

MARSH PARTNERING AWARD: Melbourne Fringe & Yarra Trams
Knit Two Together was a joint project between Yarra Trams, and Melbourne Fringe. Together they created a unique experience for the commuters of Melbourne, by placing hundreds of exquisite knitted items on trams. This quirky project helped both organisations reach their target audience of young inner-city dwellers.

QANTASLINK REGIONAL AWARD: Castlemaine State Festival & V/Line
Castlemaine State Festival and V/Line drew regional train travel and arts events together by staging the Quiet Music in Churches series. Scheduled in church venues within easy walking distance of V/Line's Castlemaine station and timed to fit around the train timetable, the music series increased festival attendance and outbound train travel from Melbourne.

TOYOTA COMMUNITY AWARD: Western region artists, Hobsons Bay Council & Hobsons Bay businesses
Art in Public Places is a six-week, city-wide event exhibiting and selling artwork in business locations across Hobsons Bay. Now in its fifth year, Art in Public Places continues to grow with artwork sales at an all time high and local arts groups organising their own exhibitions.

ENDS