young people Archives - The Burdekin Association

Expanding opportunities for Avalon Youth Hub

May 8, 2024

Exciting news has emerged for young people and their families on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, as Northern Beaches Council has endorsed a significant development for Avalon Youth Hub!

The former Avalon Customer Contact Centre will now be offered to Avalon Youth Hub, enabling the expansion of its services and providing additional support to tackle the challenges faced by young people. This announcement couldn’t come at a better time with the increasing concern of mental health and wellbeing of young people.

The Avalon Youth Hub is a successful collaboration of support services, with The Burdekin Association as the lead agency. The service providers work together to make a difference to the mental health and wellbeing of young people, providing free one-on-one counselling, case management and mentoring, advice, referrals and general support to young people.

“Last year, The Avalon Youth Hub provided 285 sessions of free counselling through KYDS, Mission Australia, headspace Brookvale and The Burdekin Association. And, 350 students across the Pittwater region were informed about support services available to them. Now, we can increase the number of services to affected young people. It will undoubtedly have a positive transformational impact on young people in our communities.”
Justene Gordon, CEO of The Burdekin Association, Lead Agency of the Avalon Youth Hub

A Hub for Support

With the acquisition of this new space, the Hub will be able to extend its reach and offer additional workshops and information sessions. This expansion is a testament to the commitment of the Avalon Youth Hub to address the diverse needs of young individuals and the broader community.

Avalon Youth Hub's new premises, the former Avalon Customer Contact Centre. — Avalon Youth Hub’s new premises – the former Avalon Customer Contact Centre.

Expanding Horizons

The decision to allocate the former Avalon Customer Contact Centre to the Avalon Youth Hub follows a thorough viability review. Through an Expressions of Interest process, Northern Beaches Council carefully evaluated several proposals and ultimately endorsed a community license agreement with The Burdekin Association acting as the lead agency of the Avalon Youth Hub.

Community Impact

The decision to endorse the expansion of the Hub is a testament to Northern Beaches Council’s commitment to the wellbeing of young people on the Northern Beaches. By investing in initiatives that address mental health and support systems, it has taken a proactive approach to tackle a pressing issue faced by the community. The availability of free counselling, case management, mentoring, advice, referrals, and general support services will serve as a safety net for young individuals who may be struggling with their mental health or experiencing difficulties in their lives.

To find out more about the Avalon Youth Hub, please visit their web site. Drop-in visitors are welcome Mondays 10am–5pm and Wednesdays 2-5pm. 59 Old Barrenjoey Road, Pittwater. You can also reach them on 0487 936 875.

Scholarships donation sparks transformation!

April 17, 2024

Professor Brian Burdekin, AO Patron of The Burdekin Association

The Burdekin Association is proud to announce that our patron, Professor Brian Burdekin AO, has generously donated $20,000 today to The Burdekin Association to fund 20 young people’s further education scholarships. These are for young people in our care.

Professor Burdekin has made a firm commitment to contribute $200,000 over the next 10 years for these scholarships.

Today being Youth Homelessness Matters Day, is the day Professor Burdekin chose to announce his donation.

The scholarships will be tailored to meet the needs of young people pursuing further education, and can be used to purchase books, pay for tuition fees, or subject-related educational tutoring.

“Education improves access to opportunities such as employment, healthcare, housing, family, community, travel, and playing a full part in society with dignity.

I anticipate that the 20 scholarships created from my donation will have a positive and lasting impact on the lives of the young people, and I hope that my donation may encourage others to make a similar gesture.”
Professor Brian Burdekin, AO Patron of The Burdekin Association

Many of the young people who come to The Burdekin Association did not attend sufficient schooling in their formative years. As a result, they are likely to have low literacy and poor self esteem, while needing to recover from the trauma of the challenges that caused their situation in the first place, such as family conflict.

Scholarships like this, assist a young person who is keen to commence or continue with their higher education to receive that opportunity, realise their potential and reach their goals.

To find out more about the positive difference that education makes to young people’s lives, click here.

About Professor Brian Burdekin AO

Professor Brian Burdekin, AO has left a lasting legacy to two of Australia’s most disadvantaged groups – homeless children and people with mental illness. During his term as Federal Human Rights Commissioner, he presented two landmark reports: a National Inquiry into Youth Homelessness in 1989 and National Inquiry into the Human Rights of People with Mental Illness in 1983.

Read more about Professor Burdekin here. And, read Professor Burdekin’s article, ‘Government is failing our most vulnerable children’ here.

About Youth Homelessness Matters Day

Homelessness Matters Day is a national day that aims to raise awareness and public discussion about child and youth homelessness. It’s been held every year since 1990 and has grown into a national commemoration of young people’s resilience. It’s also a day for Yfoundations and other services like The Burdekin Association to seek innovative solutions to support the needs of children and young people at risk of or currently experiencing homelessness. It’s a day that’s showcased online and in communities around Australia. Read more here.

Over 38,000 young people aged 15–24 years presented alone to a homelessness service in 2022–23. Of these young people, almost half experienced mental ill-health and over one third experienced domestic and family violence.

The majority of these young people were in need of short-or long-term accommodation and most were turned away due to a lack of capacity.

To read more about Youth Homelessness Matters Day, click here.

Creative Collaborations!

April 10, 2024

ACTIVEAUSSIE Skincare Ambassadors Ava and Alice from The Burdekin Association.

The Burdekin Association is thrilled to announce that a former employee, Jay Williams, has established a new skincare company – ACTIVEAUSSIE Skincare – and he has committed to donating 15 per cent of the company’s profits to The Burdekin Association for one year.

The Burdekin Association’s CEO, Justene Gordon was joined by young people – Alice and Ava – and Case Managers – Chris and Howie. They were filmed while talking with first-hand experience of how The Burdekin Association provides housing, support and community intervention services for children and young people – helping to solve issues of child and youth homelessness.

ACTIVEAUSSIE Skincare products are proudly made in Sydney by reputable partners in the health and beauty field and feature antioxidants, including Kakadu plum extract, lilly pilly fruit extract, bilberry fruit extract, lavender oil, Resveratrol, and Tocopheryl Acetate (a form of Vitamin E).

The funds raised through the sale of ACTIVEAUSSIE Skincare products will be used to provide case management services to children in our Out of Home Care. The funds will help them to learn independent living skills, complete their studies, live independently, and go on to gain employment.

We hope through ACTIVEAUSSIE Skincare’s advertising campaign, that more people will discover what we do, volunteer with us, become a foster carer of a young person, and donate.
Justene Gordon, CEO of The Burdekin Association

ACTIVEAUSSIE Skincare’s endeavours will help The Burdekin Association by raising our profile, making people aware of how we’re aiming to ensure that every child or young person has a safe home.

“The main purpose of the ACTIVEAUSSIE Skincare brand is about fundraising and supporting organisations who are helping our young disadvantaged kids. That’s what really makes us, us.”
Jay Williams, Founder of ACTIVEAUSSIE Skincare

You can visit the ACTIVEAUSSIE Skincare website to place an order and support a great cause (The Burdekin Association!) 💙💛

Youth Homelessness Matters Day

April 5, 2024April 3, 2024

Across Australia in 2022-23, almost 39,000 young people (15-24 years of age) presented alone to a specialist homelessness service. Of these young people, the majority were in need of short or long term accommodation.

Half of the young people who tried to get a bed in a crisis refuge in 2022-23 were turned away because services couldn’t accommodate them.

Around a third of young people that presented to specialist homelessness services had experienced domestic and family violence. And, around a third of young people presenting along to specialist homelessness services identified as Indigenous to Australia.

It is becoming clear, according to Yfoundations, the broader rental, housing and cost of living crisis is putting more pressure on homeless service providers and making it harder for children and young people to find a home.

Yfoundations is the peak body for youth homelessness in NSW. For over 40 years, yfoundations has represented and advocated for children and young people at risk of and experiencing homelessness, and the services that support them.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) data 202-23 advises that the capacity of homelessness services has fallen by almost 17,000 clients a year and services face a $73 million funding shortfall from June 2024 (Yfoundations media release, December 2023.)

In 2022-23, three in 10 clients at specialist homelessness services (SHS) were under the age of 18. Almost 40,000 of SHS clients in 2022-23 were children and young people (15-24) presenting on their own. Similar to previous years, females and First Nations people were overrepresented in these figures.
Yfoundations

Wednesday April 17, 2024 is Youth Homelessness Matters Day. It’s a national day that aims to raise awareness and public discussion about child and youth homelessness. It’s been held every year since 1990 and has grown into a national commemoration of young people’s resilience. It’s also a day for yfoundations and other services like The Burdekin Association to seek innovative solutions to support the needs of children and young people at risk of or currently experiencing homelessness. It’s a day that’s showcased online and in communities around Australia.

“Every day in 2022/23, 295 people who needed a crisis bed or help were turned away because services were at capacity. We believe, these numbers will be much higher in reality, because we know that children and young people will couch surf, remain in violent homes, or sleep rough because they have no idea that services exist. Even if they did, the report demonstrates they are unlikely to get a bed tonight because services are full.”
Trish Connolly, yfoundations CEO

Yfoundations is hoping that these statistics will be taken into consideration when the federal government develops the National Housing and Homelessness Plan and Agreement this year.

Yfoundations’ view is that the solution lies in increasing the funding for crisis homelessness services, so that children and young people are not living in unsafe and violent situations, and that the federal government commits to standalone homelessness and housing plans to end child and youth homelessness. Their submission aims to demonstrate how failures of the child protection system and other service systems have had significant impacts on the youth homelessness service system.

The plan will need to respond to the diversity and complexity of young people at risk of or experiencing homelessness to support their transition into a future of self reliance and wellbeing. It should be part of a national approach in responding to housing supply shortages.

To find out more about Youth Homelessness Matters Day, click here.

What a difference volunteers make!

March 14, 2024

Qualtrics volunteers assist to transform a property for a young person.

A huge thank you to the amazing team of volunteers at Qualtrics for helping us transform a single storey, two-bedroom property for a 19-year-old single mother with two children under the age of two.

Six employees from Qualtrics, which helps organisations improve their customer and employee experience, put up their hands to transform the property as part of their annual volunteering inititiative, XM Day.

Armed with gardening tools and a positive attitude, they participated in a volunteering day, where they assisted in:

Painting the living room
Moving a new couch into the newly painted living room
Pruning and tidying up the garden
Patching up a couple of dents in the walls
Revamping the kitchen
Tidying up the garage and car port
Taking rubbish to Kimbriki Resource Recovery Centre
Scrubbing the bathroom to remove mould
Removing plastic bottles and recycling them

The generous team also donated two car seats for the children, children’s clothes, toys, new towels, new cushions and a rug, and stationery to help the young mother with their TAFE studies.

Doctor Cecila Herbert from Qualtrics also went the extra mile and donated plants from her own garden and planted them in the property’s garden.

Thank you Qualtrics, your team of volunteers have truly made a difference in this young mother’s life and we couldn’t be more grateful! This is why we do what we do!

And finally, a big shout out of thanks to Bunnings Warringah Mall for donating paint, that provided the living room with a new lease on life.

If your organisation or business would like to volunteer with The Burdekin Association, check out our volunteering opportunities here. We’d love to hear from you.