The Thomas Scholarship has a special emphasis on the development of opportunities for young people through secondary and tertiary education.

It aims to ensure their aspirations and goals are not hampered by their family circumstances, and that their contributions to society may also benefit their communities.

The Thomas Foundation

The Thomas Foundation was established by David and Barbara Thomas in 1998, after they sold Cellarmaster Wines to Fosters. Education, conservation, and the arts are their three priority areas-with grant funds distributed rising from $200,000 p.a. to $1m p.a. over eight years. In November 2006 The Thomas Foundation announced a $10m Conservation Challenge grant – the largest private gift to Conservation in Australia to date.

In the early 1980s, David founded Cellarmaster Wines, which started trading as the American Express Wine Cellar in Australia and went on to become the world’s largest merchant of home delivered wine.

Today, more than one million people from Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the USA buy their wine through Cellarmasters – much of it made and distributed from the Barossa.

Cellarmasters was sold to Fosters in 1997 and the business acumen that made Cellarmasters a success was then applied to David and Barbara’s new venture – The Thomas Foundation. The Thomas’ believe that education is the key to breaking the poverty cycle. Through the Smith Family they established a tertiary level scholarship for students who had high academic achievement but were at risk of dropping out due to ? nancial disadvantage. In 1996 the first of the Tertiary Education Scholarships through The Smith Family’s Learning for Life Program were awarded. This Scholarship continues 11 years later and has since been picked up by other major corporate sponsors. The Foundation Barossa Thomas Scholarship is their latest education project.

The Thomas Scholarship

Consultation and research conducted by The Thomas Foundation in 2006 concluded that a number of Barossa students were prevented from considering tertiary education – or failed to finish courses – because of financial disadvantage, the high cost of tertiary fees and the need to geographically relocate to the metropolitan area.

David had wanted to give something back to the Barossa in recognition of the region’s contribution to the success of his business.

In 2002 he approached Foundation Barossa to establish The Thomas Scholarship.

Seed funding has been offered by David until 2011 and a Wine Industry Advisory Group has been established as a sub committee of Foundation Barossa to manage the Thomas Scholarship.

It is expected that local giving will continue to grow into The Thomas Scholarship so that this and other scholarships can be sustained into perpetuity.