Ian McPherson believes the best thing an individual can do in life is help someone that is less privileged.
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After years of service helping disadvantaged youth and commitment to golf, Mr McPherson, from Eddington, has been named in the Queen’s Birthday 2018 Honours List as a recipient of a Medal of the Order of Australia.
“I am very honoured and humbled to receive this recognition, but it’s not about me,” Mr McPherson said.
“I haven’t gone through life looking for awards, I just want to help those who are less privileged than myself.”
Mr McPherson was a founding chairman of the Tee-Up For Kids Foundation which promotes the education, safety and wellbeing of children living in out of home care in Victoria.
“Our aim is to raise money for kids living in foster care,” Mr McPherson said.
“These kids are everywhere.
“They might be sitting behind you on the bus, at the tram stop or you might walk past them in the street and you would never even realise.”
Other achievements include his commitment to golf through his work at the Victorian Golf Association (now Golf Victoria), director of Waverley Golf Club for 20 years, is a life governor for Victorian Seeing Eye Dogs and a chairman for Eddington Land Care.
“When I retired out of the golf industry I became involved with charities,” Mr McPherson said.
“I was approached by former Principal Commissioner for the Commission for Children and Young People in Victoria, Bernie Geary OAM and was asked to help bring awareness to kids in out of home care.”
Tee-Up For Kids holds golf events where both amateur and professional golfers raise money for the charity, raising $500,000 since it started in 2010.
“It’s a very sad thing, a lot of these kids have unfortunately suffered from abuse and all sorts of things and family violence is getting worse and worse,” he said.
“We help the forgotten kids of out society, the ones who live in out of home care.”
Mr McPherson’s modesty
Despite being honoured with an OAM, Mr McPherson believes some of the most integral people in helping the charity are the foster carer parents who willingly take the children into their homes.
“A lot of them are grandparents who have worked all their life and are still willing to become foster parents,” he said.
“These are the real people who should also receive recognition, I am just one of the tools which help raise the vital funds which helps them.”
