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Get Fit for Homeless Youth – 30 day fitness challenge

PIF 30 Day Fitness Challenge

We have joined the fundraising efforts of the Property Industry Association (PIF) to fight youth homelessness with a 30 day fitness challenge which aims to raise $250,000 – will you support us?

Check out who of the Burdekin team has signed up for the PIF 30 Day Fitness Challenge, we would love it if you could support us! We have set a modest aim to raise $1,000, every single donation counts! And of course, we would like to overshoot the goal and contribute as much as possible to the overall goal.

About

PIF wish to raise $250,000 towards The Haven Project which includes the renovation of a house in Balgowlah into a new home for young people. You can read more about the project here: New Home in the Making and here: Haven House Balgowlah. We wanted to thank PIF so much for their efforts in getting this fundraiser off the ground for our project partners – SMLXL Projects, Bridge Housing and others, such an amazing community effort!

Burdekin are getting active in the name of team building, mental health, and physical health, but most importantly to Get Fit to For Homeless Youth.

#pif30daychallenge #getfitforhomelessyouth

Youth homelessness affects 44,000 young Australians, and each night, 1 in 3 young people are being turned away from supported accommodation services.

The Property Industry Foundation exists to solve this problem of youth homelessness. We bring together the property and construction industry to build homes for homeless youth through our Haven Project.

Every day for 30 days from 2 – 31 May, we are walking, running, cycling and everything in between to raise funds as we go – please support us!

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Our Burdekin Volunteer Program turns two!

We are holding Volunteer Training Dates in May

It is two years since we started a Volunteer Program back in May 2020 during National Volunteers Week. Since then, we have gone on to recruit wonderful volunteers doing amazing things for us and our young people. Or maybe the volunteers recruited us because it is definitely a win-win relationship.

Read more about what our current volunteers are doing here.

To celebrate our 2nd birthday we are launching our next volunteer recruitment drive with training scheduled for:

Thursday 19th May from 6.30pm to 8.30pm and one further day the following week to be confirmed depending on time availability of volunteers, also held via zoom – both training dates are compulsory to become a Burdekin Volunteer.

If you love young people and have between 2 and 4 hours to donate per week this might be for you! Make a difference to the lives of young people and your community. Above all you will also meet new people, gain new skills and enhance your own wellbeing.

Volunteering your time, skills, and resources is one of the most powerful ways to make a difference, to help others, and as it turns out, to enhance your wellbeing.

National Volunteer Week (NVW) is Australia’s largest annual celebration of volunteering and will be held on 16 – 22 May 2022. This year’s theme is Better Together. Volunteering brings people together; it builds communities and creates a better society for everyone. Will you join us? You won’t regret it!

To register for this course, please complete an Expression of Interest form or email: volunteer@burdekin.org.au.

More on volunteering with Burdekin:

Volunteer with Burdekin, Skilled Volunteers and Current Vacancies.

Youth Homelessness Matters Day

Supporting young people experiencing or at risk of homelessness

Youth Homelessness Matters Day on April 20th, raises awareness about youth homelessness and advocates learning about and understanding youth homelessness, stimulates debate for change and advocates to support those who are currently experiencing homelessness.

Current stats:

Current statistics show, that on any given night, around 28,000 young people do not have a bed of their own to sleep in, they might be couch-surfing with mates, squeezing into crisis accommodation or sleeping on the streets – some people might not even recognise themselves they are indeed homeless.

From their information in the 2016 Census the ABS reported: On any given night in Australia 116,427 Australians are homeless. 27,680 of these are young people aged 12-24 years.

Regardless of what we might think, young people become homeless almost always due to no fault of their own. The main causes are family breakdown, domestic and family violence and the ongoing housing crisis.

The Youth Homelessness Matters Day campaign for 2022:

Their stories

Many of the young people who come to us have experienced multiple challenges in their short, young lives and we provide the support they need to reach their full potential.

At Burdekin, we believe every young person has the right to a life that offers opportunities to fulfil their potential. Many of our young people have gone on to have happy, healthy and successful lives because we were able to provide them with the support that they needed. You can read some of the stories from our young people here.

You can support our work in many different ways – in kind, in cash and in time. 

Make a donation:

Vital Volunteers

What do volunteers do

Volunteers are everyday people who give a little bit of their time to a cause that resonates with their personal values and they are worth their weight in gold!

Our Volunteers add so much to the lives of the young people here at Burdekin.

It doesn’t suit everybody to become a foster carer and volunteering might be a great alternative. Volunteers provide weekly connections to the lives of young people, many of whom have not experienced relationships with trusted adults in their lives.

Some of our valiant volunteers:

  • Volunteer Audrey visits one of our houses weekly and assists the carer by cooking the evening meal for the 3 young teens who live there. The kids often join in and the carer appreciates the adult company. We call Audrey a “house angel”.
  • Volunteers Tom and Issy are assisting two of our young people to get their drivers licence by helping them gain the 120 supervised Learner hours.
  • Volunteer Anna is helping a 17 year old who is studying to become a hairdresser.
  • Hugh is helping a young man to improve his English.
  • Sarah is providing valuable help in the office, doing an important task that takes time.
  • Georgie plays sport after school with one young girl.
  • Monique takes a young person out each Sunday and they discuss art and music.

We recognise the huge value a volunteer who is choosing to give up their time to be with a young person contributes. One young person said recently: “You mean she’s not paid to be with me? That’s cool.”

Whilst many individuals volunteer to give something back to their community, most volunteers find that they experience a number of benefits too. Volunteering has been proven to have benefits to both physical and mental health – it’s a win win!

I’m ready to volunteer – what’s next?

Read more about what it is like to become a volunteer with Burdekin and fill out an expression of interest. You might also like to read about our volunteer team and what sort of help we are looking for. We will also be running our next volunteer recruitment drive including training dates in May this year – watch this space.

We have also teamed up with Mentoring Men who provide free long-term one-to-one life mentoring programs for men Australia wide. Our partnership aims to engage male volunteers into our Volunteer Program for our young people.

Connecting the Dots

Join us for screenings on the Northern Beaches

Community Capital Foundation presents Connecting the Dots screenings and panel discussion events.

We have partnered with Community Capital Foundation and other local organisations for something very important to us – screenings of the documentary film Connecting the Dots by award-winning Canadian film director Noemi Weis, as well as post screening panel discussions.

Discussions will include mental health experts, local organisations and youth representatives to talk about how we can collectively improve youth mental health in 2022.

You can view screenings of Connecting the Dots on:

Watch the trailer

About Connecting the Dots

Connecting the Dots is the first feature documentary of its kind to offer a raw and inteimate look at youth mental health from a global youth perspective.


“The film gives a voice to our future leaders, who, through sharing their lived experience- articulate the problems and potential solutions. Community Capital Foundation will then work directly with Northern Sydney’s youth to identify ideas needing community support. In addition, we’re asking local individuals and businesses to contribute to our Youth Impact Fund for a giving program this year,” says the Foundation’s manager, Jessie Williams

Youth Mental Health Crisis

Late last year, self-harm and suicidal ideation were up 31 per cent for children and teenagers compared with 2020, according to NSW Government’s Health report.

With mental health charities doing it tough and rising rates of youth struggling, Community Capital Foundation want to shift the dial through a campaign to increase awareness, identify organisations making a difference and help raise the capital to contribute to our next grants program.

You can help promote Connecting the Dots

Hashtags and links to use – #RaiseYourHand, #ConnectingtheDots, #CCF, #mentalhealth #youthmentalhealth

Community Capital Foundation media release

Connect with Facebook and Instagram

About Community Capital Foundation

Community Capital Foundation is an initiative by local Northern Beaches organisation, Community Care Northern Beaches. We support our communities through grant-giving and community-building initiatives that positively impact our local backyard. Since 2019, we have donated $111,000 to programs eradicating Indigenous youth disadvantage, building male youth resilience and respect for themselves and others, and programs supporting victims of domestic violence, plus several others.

“When a flower doesn’t grow, you change the environment around it. As communities, we need to learn how to create safe and empowering spaces for young people to achieve their best mental health,” says Community Capital Foundation’s Youth Ambassador, Emily Unity.

To learn more, contact Jessie Williams.
Email: jessie@communitycapitalfoundation.com.au
Phone: +61 452 627 257



We acknowledge the Aboriginal people of the Cadigal and Gayamaygal Clans. We acknowledge the Country on which we live, work, and gather as being Aboriginal land.

We acknowledge the lands, waterways and skies that are connected to Aboriginal people. We honour them and pay our deepest respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.

We respect their rightful place within our communities, and we value their ancient cultural knowledge and practices.

Aboriginal Flag
Torres Straight Island Flag

We deeply respect that this will always be Aboriginal land and we will honour and follow the first peoples’ values in caring for the Country and for preserving their culture.

We deeply value that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are the oldest living culture in the world and we will continue to work with their peoples and communities to ensure their cultures endure and remain strong.