More Northcote students will be protected from the sun’s damaging rays thanks to a Victorian Government funding to provide more shade in school playgrounds and outdoor areas.

Member for Northcote, Kat Theophanous MP today announced Fairfield Primary School and Thornbury High School in the Northcote Electorate will be share in $50,000 in funding from the latest round of the School Shade Grants program.

The program provides grants to build new shade structures, repair existing structures, or create natural shade by planting trees. Funding is also provided to purchase sun protective items including hats and sunscreen.

The children, teachers and families of Fairfield Primary will get $25,000 to install a permanent shade sail for the large courtyard area, while those at Thornbury High will also benefit from a new permanent shade sail over outdoor areas used by students and several community groups.

Through this initiative the Victorian Government is helping children to be sun smart and prevent skin cancer, while still embracing the outdoors and keeping fit, active and healthy.

Childhood and adolescence are critical periods during which exposure to UV radiation is more likely to contribute to skin cancer later in life. Schools play an important role teaching effective sun smart behaviours from an early age.

Shade alone can reduce overall exposure to UV radiation by up to 75 per cent when used in combination with other sun protection strategies such as sun screen, hats, sunglasses and protective clothing.

In 2018, melanoma was the fifth most common cancer in Victoria with 3,096 new cases diagnosed and sadly 291 deaths.

The School Shade Grant program is complemented by the Community Shade Grants program, which provides shade for community organisations. The outcome of the current round of the Community Shade Grants will be announced soon.

So far, these programs have awarded 1715 grants totalling more than $16 million in funding across Victoria. Round seven of the Shade Grants Program will open in mid-2022.

It forms part of the Government’s ambitious Victorian Cancer Plan 2020-24 which sets out a target to halve the proportion of Victorians diagnosed with preventable cancers by 2040.

Quote attributable to Member for Northcote, Kat Theophanous MP

“It’s great for kids to spend time playing outdoors and keeping active. These grants mean Fairfield Primary and Thornbury High students can still enjoy the outdoors while having shade to be protected from the sun.”

“Skin cancer is one of the most preventable forms of cancer in Australia. Our shade grants are making our school campuses safer for students and improving our community’s awareness of sun protection.”