Community & Business
7 November, 2026
Anniversary of Fred's extraordinary charity
Legend of Fred Hyde
This year marks the tenth anniversary of the death of local legend Fred Hyde AM, with the charity he founded in 1991 - Co-operation in Development, renamed Fred Hyde Schools in memory of the Kokoda Trail veteran - celebrating its 35th year with an AGM appropriately enough at the ANZAC room in the RSL in Warwick.
The charity has continued to power on since the death of Fred on November the 8th in 2016, with the charity now operating 40 schools and 18 kindergartens in the delta region of southern Bangladesh.
Fred's death, remarkably, came exactly 15 years after the ABC aired a 20 minute documentary about his work titled A Class of His Own, which led to a national outpouring of support for his work.
"I estimate that we received from donors ranging from primary school children to Dick Smith donations during the intervening years to the tune of over $2 million," chair of the organisation Olav Muurlink said. "Because of Fred's vision that no money be spent on marketing or employing administrators in Australia, that money has done remarkable things in Bangladesh. There are tens of thousands of children who received an education in regions where there are no roads, no electricity, and no schools bar ours."
You are welcome to attend the AGM on November 22, and meet the team at 10.30, for an 11am start in the ANZAC Room, Club Warwick RSL, 65 Albion Street.
