Inner West Archives - Page 2 of 3 - The Burdekin Association

United We Shine – Mardi Gras Fair

March 18, 2022March 10, 2022

The Mardi Gras Fair was amazing. Thank you for taking the time to come to our stall and ask about our work. We appreciate it.

There was an incredible turnout to Victoria Park with organisers estimating about 35,000 visitors.

United we certainly do shine!

Over the course of the day our colourful stall and friendly team attracted lots of people asking questions about what we do and how we do it. We ended up with a large number of people expressing interest in fostering or volunteering with us – the positive reaction exceeded our expectations.

Thank you to our staff who worked hard to create the stall. You will see more of us at community events like this one – keep a look out!

We are always here to answer questions, please do get in touch anytime:

Become a Burdekin Foster Carer, Foster Care FAQs, Information Sessions.

Volunteer, Skilled Volunteers, Current Volunteer Vacancies

If you would like to speak to someone, please email: carer@burdekin.org.au or phone Sarah or Michelle on: 02 8976 1777

Local Matters at Grill’d Leichhardt

February 16, 2022

Support Burdekin at Local Matters Grill'd Leichhardt

We were lucky enough to have a jar at Grill’d Balgowlah for the month of February and now we are lucky again with a jar at Grill’d Leichhardt for the whole month of March. So, if you’re into healthy burgers and live in or are visiting the Inner West, why not swoop past and grab something delicious to eat whilst also helping us out at zero extra cost to you.

Simply order (online or in-person) any burger from Grill’d and ask for your token to be put into our jar – it’s that easy!

We have a chance to win the top donation prize of $300 or second or third place of $100 each. Grab some mates and head down for a burger and support your local charity! All you have to do is add a community token to our jar.

Local Matters Jar at Grill'd Balgowlah — Local Matters at Grill’d Leichhardt

Have you ever thought about becoming a Burdekin Foster Carer?

October 23, 2021October 10, 2021

Have you ever thought about becoming a foster carer?

Being a Carer with The Burdekin Association is different from the traditional foster care programs.

We are a community-based non-profit organisation offering foster care to young people in need. Fostering can be undertaken in many ways, in your own home or a rent-free Burdekin property for you and the young person. Singles, couples and families are ALL welcome!

Are you ready?

Do you want to take the next step and make a difference to a child’s life? For more information, call one of our carer support staff on 02 8976 1777 or email carer@burdekin.org.au.

Check out what Burdekin Foster Carers and young people in care have to say.

Have a listen to what Beth and Ange have to say about being Foster Carers with Burdekin. Beth and Ange.

Have a listen to what a difference having a caring home made to CJ. CJ

Have a listen to what being Foster Carers has meant to Jill and Tom. Jill and Tom.

Please visit our Carer pages to find out more – Becoming a Foster Carer and Live-in Foster Carer FAQ’s.

Learn more about being a foster carer, hear real stories about what it is like to be a foster carer with us

At The Burdekin Association we know many teenagers are in need of a safe, secure, nurturing home and that many people won’t consider fostering teenagers because of negative misconceptions about them.

Fostering a teenager provides young people with a consistent, nurturing, adult role model at a vital time in their life, allowing them to build up necessary steps to independence.

You do not need to have had your own teenagers or have had experience with teenagers. What you do need to have is an open heart to support young people who need to be loved and protected.

Keeping siblings together in foster care is vital to keep their close bond and connection rather than being split up. Burdekin currently have young teenage siblings who urgently need carers available to offer them a safe and nurturing home.

Have you ever considered becoming a foster carer?

Lisa* is a kind, thoughtful 11-year-old girl with loads of energy, looking for a loving home in the Inner West of Sydney. Lisa loves gymnastics, dancing and has recently shown a lot of interest in AFL. Lisa will be making the transition to high school next year and may need help getting to and from her new school. Lisa loves school but sometimes needs some support with her homework. She loves structure and routine and goes to bed at the same time every night. Lisa is an amazing chef – her favourite things to make are smoothies and cupcakes.
*Image and name has been changed to protect child’s identity.

Foster carers needed Inner West, Northern Sydney, Eastern Suburbs and South East Sydney - can you help?

Ricky* is a caring, funny, smart 12-year-old boy who is full of energy and is hoping for a warm and loving home in the Inner West of Sydney. Ricky* absolutely loves NRL and has recently taken a huge interest in his fitness – going to the local park for running and circuit training. He has recently learnt to follow recipes and cooks up a storm. Ricky* takes so much pride in his bedroom. Ricky* enjoys school and sometimes will need some support with his assignments. Ricky* responds positively to a structured but fun environment.
*Image and name have been changed to protect child’s identity.

We are looking for individuals from all sorts of backgrounds and experiences, who are single or in a relationship – all are welcome and encouraged to become foster carers.

Don’t forget, if you would like more information call one of our carer support staff on 02 8976 1777, email carer@burdekin.org.au or visit our website to find out more – Becoming a Foster Carer and Live-in Foster Carer FAQ’s.

Volunteers Week 2021

June 9, 2021June 4, 2021

It was a busy Volunteers Week 2021 for Burdekin!

Our Inner West Volunteer Co-ordinator Renee, our Northern Beaches Volunteer Co-ordinator Kerri and Kim , our overall Volunteer Coordinator participated in a thank you activity – National Volunteers Week (NVW) Cultural & Bush Tucker Walk 2021.

The theme of this years NVW was Recognise, Reconnect, Reimagine and as a way of saying thank you, STARS invited volunteers to either a morning or afternoon guided walk on the Cooks River. Darug Dharawal man and respected horticulturalist Terry Lennis guided the walk. Lunch was provided by Café Green House at Gough Whitlam Park.

Our Volunteers Celebrated National Volunteers Week — Volunteer Co-ordinators Renee and Kim celebrating National Volunteers Week 2021

Burdekin celebrated NVW for the first time, having launched our Volunteer Program during NVW 2020 this is really a special time to us. Our volunteer team celebrated and bonded over a meal and, of course, received certificates of appreciation.

Burdekin’s Mrs Jill Wrathall presenting volunteer Anna with a certificate of appreciation.

If you would like to know more about our Volunteer Program you can take a look at our dedicated pages:

Volunteer With Burdekin

Burdekin Skilled Volunteers

Our Current Volunteer Vacancies

Charitable community days and in-kind giving

May 10, 2022May 27, 2021

Working Bees at our Inner West and Northern Beaches Properties

Giving comes in all shapes and forms. We want to highlight some of the contributions our amazing community of supporters have generously provided to us as in-kind giving, in other words donating time and goods.

What are in-kind donations?

In-kind donations may be physical stuff like furniture, clothes, necessities (food, toiletries), school supplies, equipment and the like or consist of donations in the form of professional expertise, skills and services such as legal services or property refurbishment, facility management and the like.

Community working bees make a big, practical difference to our work and to our young people – we have some amazing – we mean AMAZING – partners and organisations helping out.

The Property Industry Foundation (PIF) connects us with other organisations all the time to help alleviate child and youth homelessness. These organisations are across a variety of industries providing numerous services and products that will help services like ours to keep youth safe and secure.

Stanmore property working bee with Charterhall and Flick Macqueen Plant Designs

Staff from Charterhall and plants and pots from Flick Macqueen Plant Design helped us with a garden design at one of our Stanmore properties. Charterhall’s website says: “Our team are encouraged to give 1% of their time to support community projects.”

What an amazing ethos and the team did an incredible job. Take a look at some of the before, during and after photos below.

King Living

King Living have been donating the most beautiful lounges from one of their stunning ranges to one of our Stanmore properties. These pieces have gone into new homes for our young people and look amazing.

“We received the beautiful couch and dining table set on Monday which was assembled by two really lovely men. The Burdekin Association is truly grateful for the ongoing support both organisations provide. The houses we find automatically feel like homes with the quality of these items.” Matt, The Burdekin Association.

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Bunnings

Ensuring fire safety in our properties is a priority for us and we must say a huge thank you to Bunnings Warringah Mall, who have donated fire safety products such as fire extinguishers, fire blankets, first aid kits and other fire safety accessories to reduce the risk of fire and keep our young people safe both in the Inner West and Northern Beaches.

We can’t thank these wonderful people enough, their commitment to helping us and the phenomenal work they have done not to mention the gorgeous furniture and plants.

BINGO Bins

The people over at BINGO Industries have been a huge support to The Burdekin Association by providing about $10,000 – $15,000 worth of bins over the last year. The bins are being used to clean up properties….such wonderful support that we are really appreciative of.

We are always saying this but … it really does take a village and we are so lucky to have found ours! Thank you everyone for your precious time and donations.

If you would like to partner with us in any way and help us to solve youth homelessness please get in touch!

Charterhall – LinkedIn, Twitter and Youtube

King Living – Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Pinterest

Bunnings – Instagram, Pinterest and Youtube

Flick McQueen Design – Facebook and Instagram

BINGO Industries – Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter

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Bunnings and Taubmans Paints

Recently the wonderful people at Bunnings Warringah Mall and Taubmans Paints helped us with a very special project – The Burdekin Learning Space. We are thrilled to say that, at a property in North Head, we now have a classroom, therapy room and sensory room. Our young people are going to benefit so so much from this space where specialist education workers will provide trauma informed education. None of this would be possible without the kindness and generosity of community! Read more about our Learning Space and Education Specialists fundraising page here.