Peter Ferguson’s Legacy

Peter Ferguson was diagnosed with brain cancer in April 2023. He lost this battle in April 2024. Today we will celebrate his life with family and friends.

Peter impacted everyone with whom he came into contact. Instilled in Peter was a desire to ‘give back’, and in the areas that he gave back, he was a hugely valuable contributor. In recent years, Peter was passionate about helping skilled refugees and was involved in that pursuit via Talent Beyond Boundaries.?

In March 2023, just a few weeks before learning of his brain tumour, Peter was in Jordan participating in the Global Refugee Mobility Summit. He returned from this trip with even more vigour and urgency to make an impact. Only weeks later, his life was turned upside down.

The Peter Ferguson Fund for Refugee Families

A special purpose fund has been established to honour the life of Peter, to continue to impact the lives of others. This will provide funding support to keep refugee families together as they relocate to apply their skills in the workforce. The purpose of this fund captures the importance that Peter placed on both developing meaningful relationships and family.?

The fund’s target is A$600,000, which will support 5-10 refugee families relocating each year, in perpetuity, with grants of up to A$20,000. This will have a significant and lasting impact.?

Keeping Refugee Families Together

The fact that someone finds themself in a refugee situation should not affect their ability to use their skills, qualifications and experience to be able to compete on the international job market like anyone else. From an employer perspective, refugees should not be cheap labour, but nor should they be more expensive to hire than anyone else from overseas. Talent Beyond Boundaries asks employers to pay no more or less than anyone else to hire a refugee.?

The challenge is that refugees typically have additional pre-departure costs that they need to fund in order to take up job offers - for example, passports often need to be reissued, medical and security checks need to be completed (and paid for), then there are document translations, exit fees etc. Employers would normally not expect to pick up those costs in a normal hire. Pathway Club, established by Derar Alkhateeb and John Cameron (former colleagues of Peter, and Derar also a skilled refugee who moved to Australia with the support of Talent Beyond Boundaries), exists in order to help fund that gap sustainably through a grant scheme. Pathway Club is open to any displaced person with a job offer, in any occupation, going to any destination throughout the world.

However, there is still a gap which is currently not being addressed - the cost of bringing the applicant’s family with them. Again, this is not normally paid for by the employer. Allowing for the applicant’s family to relocate with them can be critical, and even essential, in setting them up for success in a new country and new job. Apart from the emotional turmoil of splitting up families in this way, there are also a range of vulnerabilities facing a family left behind.

The Peter Ferguson Fund for Refugee Families will help Pathway Club to close that unaddressed gap and keep families of refugees together.

Contribute to The Peter Ferguson Fund for Refugee Families

The Peter Ferguson Fund for Refugee Families is part of Pathway Club. By leveraging alignment with Pathway Club and its existing infrastructure, unnecessary duplicate costs will be avoided and the effectiveness of this fund in assisting refugee families will increase.?

Take the opportunity to honour Peter, contribute to his legacy, and become a Foundation Donor to this Fund.

Donations in memory of Peter can be made here.?

Peter celebrated his 60th birthday last year - 600 people with $1000 to donate can establish this fund to a level to support up to 10 relocating families each year.?

All donations over $2 to The Pathway Club Peter Ferguson Fund for Refugee Families are tax deductible (in Australia). You will be provided with a receipt for tax deduction purposes.

Thank you for your support.?

A hike in memory of Peter, to support the fund will take place in early 2025. More information will be provided on this in time.