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A Safe Haven in Balgowlah

Property Industry Foundation

We are beyond thrilled with the completion of Haven House in Balgowlah and want to thank everyone who has been involved from the bottom of our hearts.

Before
During
After

Back in April, we wrote about the start of this project – a collaboration by The Property Industry Foundation (PIF), SMLXL Projects and Bridge Housing in support of our Youth Housing Program.

In a little over two months a huge transformation has taken place and the house is now ready.

Those involved in the project, came together on 9th June to celebrate the opening of Haven House and their collective efforts and goodwill.

You can follow the entire project about a house that sat empty and derelict for five years being transformed into a beautiful home over on the Property Industry Foundation’s website.

We are deeply touched by our community and what they have done.

The house has a room dedicated to Cameron Brae, Founder David Hazlett called DC Hazlett Room. We want to thank his family and Co-CEO Tim Gavan for their attendance at the workerbee event in his honour.

 Cameron Brae Founder David Hazlet’s children and Tim Gavan
Scope Projects
Urbis

Other teams involved in the workerbee were Urbis and Scope Projects.

I always believe that we are ‘blessed to be a blessing’, so to be able to give back something even in a small and simple way to make someone happy is important to me,” says Urbis volunteer Donna. “It’s so wonderful to see the all the work ‘done and dusted’ at the end of the day.”

Coco Republic supplied furniture and linen for the bedrooms plus lounge and dining furniture and decorations. Property Industry Foundations new national partners AVID also donated furniture and other items for the nursery, including a change table and cot.

Property Industry Foundation CEO, Kate Mills,The Burdekin Association CEO Justene Gordon, SMLXL Projects CEO, Lisa Mort

Please follow the project over on the Property Industry Foundation’s website and hear from SMLXL Projects CEO, Lisa Mort about what it meant to be involved – Haven House Balgowlah.

FleetPartners offers driving opportunities for youth

Burdekin Learning to Drive Program

The road to independence just got a little easier for our young people thanks to an incredible helping hand from FleetPartners and The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. The Burdekin Association will now have the ability to provide more young people across the Northern Beaches and Inner West of Sydney with essential learn-to-drive hours and support.

We are thrilled with the news that FleetPartners have generously provided a dedicated vehicle for Burdekin’s existing learn-to-drive program, which to date, has relied on staff and volunteers lending their own vehicles.

Learning to drive is an important rite of passage for any young person – it provides the freedom and independence in social situations, for appointments and employment.

Julian Russell (Eclipx Group (FleetPartners) CEO) and Justene Gordon (The Burdekin Association CEO)

The Burdekin Association learn-to-drive program provides support and driving practice hours to young people living in out-of-home care without the family support required to complete driver training towards securing their licence.

Not only does the program provide essential driving hours and practice, important relationships are also developed between young people and volunteers, who become mentors, not just driving instructors.

“The road to independence is very challenging for young people in our out-of-home care and youth housing programs. This support from FleetPartners and the Sea Eagles allows us to provide more opportunities for young people to accumulate driving practice hours required to attain their licence and to progress on to employment,” said The Burdekin Association CEO, Justene Gordon.

“We’re proud community partners with the Sea Eagles and we thank the Club for their initiative in bringing FleetPartners together with our learn-to-drive program.”

An Eclipx Group business, FleetPartners is a strong contributor to the communities in which they operate. Providing a vehicle to The Burdekin Association learn-to-drive program is just one of many meaningful ways they contribute to the community.

“We are very proud to extend our support to The Burdekin Association. We recognise the important role a driver licence plays in providing independence, building confidence, improving employment prospects, and proving a pathway to financial stability for the young people participating in this program. This positive impact is why we’re so pleased to be involved,” said Eclipx Group (FleetPartners) CEO, Julian Russell.

To find out more about FleetPartners, visit fleetpartners.com.au.
To find out more about The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles please visit seaeagles.com.au

Celebrate our Volunteers with us

We recently celebrated National Volunteers Week as well as the second anniversary of the Burdekin Volunteer Program so, we saw this as a perfect time to celebrate our volunteers and all they do for our young people with an appreciation dinner. Of course we appreciate our volunteers every day of the week.

Just like our dinner last year, our volunteers received certificates of appreciation for their extraordinary contribution during the challenging times over the past two years as we navigated working with Covid-19. We acknowledged particularly the huge impact a trusted adult can have on the life of a young person, especially one who has experienced childhood trauma.

It really has been a time like no other and we thank each and every volunteer!

We have recently just completed another round of volunteer training and cannot wait to welcome new recruits into the team. We are currently in the process of “matching” some of our volunteer recruits with clients. We take this process seriously, looking at the skills, interests and availability of the volunteer and thinking through who might be the most suitable young person and whether they’re ready for a new adult in their lives. Many of our young people have lost trust in adults so it’s important that they are in a good place to be ready and willing to meet with a volunteer mentor. When the match works well, it is brilliant and over time, a very strong bond can develop. As one of our young clients said, “it’s so good that there’s someone who wants to meet with me who isn’t paid to meet with me.”

In the meantime, if you would like to know more about volunteering we have lots of information on our website, you might like to start here and then search volunteer. Please get in touch if you are interested and we will let you know once the dates for the next sessions have been confirmed – we love hearing from you. If you have any questions, please email: volunteer@burdekin.org.au.

Donate to WIN

Donate to Burdekin and win big with Manly Warringah Sea Eagles

Donating to your favourite charity is always rewarding but now you can win something big too! Not only will your money go towards the education of our young people but it also entitles you to be entered into a prize draw to win a Manly Warringah Sea Eagles package!

Donate to Burdekin and win a Manly Warringah Sea Eagles ultimate match day experience!

Donate for the win!

Our donate to win draw is a fun way for Burdekin and our partners Manly Warringah Sea Eagles to raise funds whilst giving you the chance to win the ultimate game day experience!

To enter

To enter our draw, all you have to do is donate to our end of financial year tax giving campaign before midnight on Thursday 30th June. All donations no matter how big or small are automatically entered into the draw to win.

Win a 2022 Sea Eagles jersey signed by the NRL squad. Plus ….

Donate to Burdekin and win a Manly Warringah Sea Eagles ultimate match day experience

The prize also includes 4 Category 1 tickets to a game of your choice and the possibility to form Guard of Honour – terms and conditions apply.

Simply donate to our Educational Inclusion Pays Off Campaign and you will be automatically entered into our donate to win draw – it’s that easy!

Terms and conditions of Donate to Win.

Reasons to consider Foster Care

Young people in need of homes

Right here, in Sydney, there are children and young people in need of a safe and stable home. A home could be provided by one person, two people or any existing family unit. Whether the home mimics a traditional family, or a non-traditional family type unit, is not as important as whether young people have a safe place and nurturing carers.

Could this be you?

Could you provide a safe, caring and nurturing environment to provide the foundation to overcome challenges in order for a young person to live their life to their full of potential? Could you experience the privilege of walking side by side a young person as they grow, as their personality begins to emerge, and they find their footing and grow in confidence?

As at June 2020, in Australia almost 46,000 children were in out-of-home care.

Being a Foster Carer with us

The children and young people in our care are considered ‘older’, as they are between the ages of 9 and 18, but most of our children and young people are teenagers. Embarking on a journey as a carer may appear challenging but it need not be, at Burdekin we are able to support you through your journey to becoming a carer and will walk alongside you each step of the journey. As a Burdekin Foster Carer you are part of a team. We don’t stop providing support following your initial training, our team provide ongoing, wrap-around support on an ongoing basis. This included post placement with a young person in care.

We would love to hear from you if you think you could provide a safe place for one of these young people – we can also support you with accommodation, if that may be a barrier to providing care for young people.

Children and young people who are in the Out of Home Care system have all come from “hard places”. They all have a history of trauma and broken attachments and that may mean that as a carer, you may need to learn to manage their big feelings and emotions with a little more skills and training, but we will be working alongside you to provide you with that support. Remember that older foster children and young people are just like any children and young people – in need of love, stability, and a secure home, to thrive. These bright individuals will have stuff to work through, building a connection may take a bit of time, but if you hang in there, you may get to see the walls come down as you learn more about them and they learn to trust you.

Are you a little bit curious about how it would work for you? Please chat to us and find out how it’s possible.