Ken Johnstone
Ken served for 53 years, including 30 years as Treasurer and 20 years as Chair of BBM, the organisation behind the Global Footrpints Scholarships.
When Ken became Treasurer, the organisation, in partnership with the Australian Government, operated Australia’s largest and most successful youth migration scheme which saw thousands of young men from the UK migrate to Australia to work in agriculture and many trades.
Ken himself had migrated from Scotland as a Little Brother, as the scheme’s migrants were known, and became an accountant after settling in Sydney. In 1966 he became the organisation’s treasurer and remained in that role for 30 years, until he became Chairman in 1996.
In 1982 the sponsored migration scheme ended, and the organisation, under Frank Mansell’s leadership, sold its assets, including a Training Farm and accommodation, and invested the funds to establish the BBM Ltd of today. As Treasurer Ken oversaw this financial transformation of the organisation.
Until a few years before his death in 2022 Ken ran his own accountancy firm in partnership with former Little Brother and current BBM Treasurer, Eric Haines. Ken was passionate about Jazz and sport, and the legacy of the Big Brother Movement.
To honour this legacy, every year a Global Footprints Scholarship is awarded in honour of a former Little Brother and the contribution they made to the organisation and its people.
Image: Ken Johnston presenting the 2019 BBM Jazz Scholarship to guitarist Joshua Meader, 6 November 2019, Parliament House, Sydney.