As a charity, grants make the difference between running on “the smell of an oily rag” with skeleton staff to employing a team to create bigger change to prevent lead poisoning by helping households all around our country.
We’d like to ask if you could help by writing to your local federal member of parliament (MP)?
We’ve drafted a letter where you can add your personal story – we recommend doing this so that your MP sees the human part of the lead story.
You can download a copy of the letter from https://leadsafeworld.com/sampleMPletter, and personalise it and send it to your MP.
How do you work out who your MP is? Easy, click here (https://leadsafeworld.com/findmymp) and type in your postcode.
Template Letter to Support The LEAD Group
Here’s what we’ve put together in the template.
Dear [MP’s Name],
I am writing to share my personal experience with lead exposure and to advocate for continued funding for The LEAD Group Inc. charity.
[Insert personal story here regarding lead and initial contact with The LEAD Group Inc. charity]
Ms. O’Brien, Lead Scientist and co-Founder of The LEAD Group, provided invaluable assistance by [insert story]. Her expertise and support are unparalleled, and I can attest to the importance of The LEAD Group’s services in providing reliable information and guidance on lead exposure and contamination prevention and management, when I was unable to obtain this breadth of information from any other sources, let alone from a single source.
Since its establishment in 1992, The LEAD Group has a long-standing history of advocating for federal lead-safety policy and has had significant success in inspiring national lead-safety initiatives such as the reductions in the government’s blood lead action levels in 1993 and 2015, the doctor education program of 1994, lead paint education campaign of the mid-late 1990s, the elimination of leaded petrol in 2002, and of lead paint in 2021. However, I am concerned to learn that the organisation is facing financial challenges and may run out of funds by the end of May 2024. I understand that The LEAD Group has requested an ad hoc grant from the Treasurer to achieve their goals of helping the federal government to finally create a national lead-safety policy worthy of the world’s largest lead exporter and providing LEAD Group Kits free to the most at-risk Australians (especially Indigenous families).
Without adequate funding, Ms. O’Brien and The LEAD Group may be unable to continue their vital work in making the world lead-safe one family at a time. This could have serious implications for individuals and families like mine who rely on their guidance for testing and reducing lead exposure.
I recently discovered that The LEAD Group’s third application in the past year for seed funding to PM Anthony Albanese has not received any response. Therefore, I am reaching out to seek your support in advocating for the $250,000 funding request for The LEAD Group. This funding is essential to fund the involvement of Technical Advisory Board Members of The LEAD Group in working with the government to develop a National Lead Safety Policy and providing LEAD Group Kits to local professionals who can assist the most vulnerable Australians, especially Indigenous communities.
I urge you to consider raising questions in Parliament and issuing a media release to highlight the urgent need for funding for The LEAD Group. Your support in this matter would be greatly appreciated and would help ensure the continuation of essential services provided by The LEAD Group.
Thank you for your attention to this important issue. I have included contact details for The LEAD Group at the end of this letter and am available to discuss any further details at your convenience.
Yours sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Contact Details]
Contact The LEAD Group directly –
Ms Elizabeth O’Brien, Lead Scientist and Lead Advisor, The LEAD Group Inc.
(P) (02) 9716 0014 or (M) 0431 184 933(E) info@lead.org.au
(W) www.LeadSafeWorld.com and www.Lead.org.au