Child Friendly by Design Toolkit Launched

Congratulations to Healthy Illawarra's Debra Langridge, Geoff Woolcock, Prue Walsh, Elle Holder-Keeping and every single person who contributed to the development of this fantastic and unique resource.

Over 80 people enjoyed a delicious breakfast and the stunning facilities at Ravensthorpe Guest House in Albion Park for the launch ceremony.

Local Members of Parliament Steven Jones MP (Throsby) and Matt Brown MP (Kiama) spoke and the Toolkit was officialy launched by NSW Commissioner for Children & Young People Megan Mitchell.

The launch was followed by a demonstration workshop that generated some lively discussion and reminising on childhood escapades!

Debra and team will now be offering facilitated workshops to other Local Government areas, developers and community groups.

Tessa Parsons

program Manager

Family Gathering at Barrack Heights Community Garden

On 6th October 2010 Barrack Heights Community Garden hosted a family day attended by visitors and local residents.

Shellharbour Council Community Services , Access Community Group, FACE, Housing NSW, NSW Police Community Liaison, Barnardos C4C, Baptist Community Services, Park & Play and Illawarra Children's Services Barrack Heights Children's Centre joined forces to create a great atmosphere at the garden.




Proud volunteers conducted talks and tours of the garden, Katie & Kac provided face painting. Wendy supplied her ever favourite 'Slime'. The police Community Safety van was there with lots of information and Craig's Good Neighbour BBQ was most popular.


Park and Play were on hand with craft, games and activities. Children and adults all joined in with the drumming sessions and some budding architects made teepees and decorated them with materials from the garden.




The Garden is open to everyone, especially residents of Barrack Heights and new volunteers are welcome. Working Bees are held every second Tuesday from 2pm - 5pm. Contact Aileen or Megan at Council for more information ph 4221 6170.


Tessa

Welcome Janelle Brown

Please welcome our new member of the C4C team Janelle Brown.

Janelle has accepted the position of Aboriginal Community Engagement Facilitator. She will be working 21 hours a week to assist C4C activities to be responsive and welcoming to Aboriginal families and to engage the Shellharbour Aboriginal Community to make sure they are aware of all the opportunities available for families.

Janelle is well known and very well connected in the local community so we are very excited to have her on the team working with us towards "The Best Possible Start in Life for Children in Shellharbour City"

You can contact Janelle on 4295 4268 or jbrown@barnardos.org.au

Tessa

C4C Program Manager

Fun in the Sun for Child Protection Week

On Friday 10th Sept The team from Park and Play were at Little Park Shellharbour with some extra friends and helpers to promote safe and healthy fun and games for families.

To celebrate Child Protection Week 2010, C4C Community Development Facilitator Judy organised for Craig and the Good Neighbour Crew from Shellharbour Council to provide a BBQ lunch. Ryan and Beth from Pink Fox Face Painting were also on hand to provide free fancy decorations for hands and faces.

Once again proving that Shellharbour is a Child Friendly City there was a great turn out of 48 adults and 51 under fives! The weather was kind and the rain held off till after everyone had gone home for a rest.

Thanks to Glenda and Fiona from POPPY playgroup who brought their group and helped with games.

They are under there somewhere!

Tessa

Introducing Katc Medenis

We are very happy to welcome Katc Medenis, a TAFE student studying Community Services, to C4C.

Katc will be with us for the next couple of months. She is taking on some research/evaluation work for us while she is on placement and will be working her way around to all the Community Partner activities. You will be able to meet Katc at the C4C meeting on Wednesday 8th Sept at the PCYC.

Tessa

Welcome Katie - FACE coordinator!

Katie Murphy, the new project coordinator of the latest C4C Activity Family & Community Engagement (FACE :)) was a welcome addition to the Barnardos / C4C display table at the CDEP Reunion Event today.

The gathering and services expo was held at The Land - Warrigal Employment site at Windang. We were invited to display information from all the Barnardos and C4C programs for families. To make sure we attracted attention Katie brought bananas and apples to give away and I brought C4C bags, drink bottles and the last of our Frisbees. Katie has also invested in an Apple Slinky machine which was a big hit with both the children and the Aunties! She is now looking forward to lots more community engagement as her project develops.

Talking to families at this event it was interesting to hear feedback about which services are well known and being able to introduce more people to ones that may interest them. When we spoke about the FACE target age group of 8-12s there was a lot of support and encouragement that this is definitely a needed.

Tessa

Farewell Barb Jents

We are very sad to announce that our chief Blogger Barb Jents has resigned as Communications Officer for Communities for Children Shellharbour to pursue a full time position. Barb has been with us for almost all our four and a half years. She started when we were crammed into one tiny room at the Albion Park Community Centre. Then we moved to the larger (shop)office on Tongarra Rd. We thought we were there for the duration as the program was due to wrap up in June 09 but as you know instead of celebrating our swansong we ended up celebrating a new lease of life for C4C but also the need for a new home. Finally we arrived at our current location in Lake Illawarra where we are very happy to have undercover parking and inside facilities!

"Barb's 50th Birthday-June 2009

It is a hallmark of this project that we are continually breaking new ground. We are so proud of all the great activities our Community Partners have delivered and all the new partnerships and networks that have grown out of C4C. In all this growth, Barb has been there documenting everything through first our website, then the newsletter and now this Blogspot. She has also been the Keeper of the Clippings and so far has filled 9 albums with press clippings and copies of all the other media produced by everyone at C4C!

Kidsfest Business Awards 2008

So Good Bye and Good Luck Barb, we hope you have happy travels with Mark in your new caravan and discover new horizons on the way! Enjoy the adventure, we will miss you.


Tessa and Judy

PS there will be a Farewell Afternoon Tea on Monday 16 August at 2pm at the Barnardos Office, Greene St Warrawong.
Friends welcome.

New Poster Display for Communities for Children Shellharbour!

Pictured Above : Graphic Artist
Ellie Holder-Keeping

Our new conference poster was presented to us
here today at Communities for Children by Graphic Artist
Ellie Holder - Keeping.
Tessa will be taking the new poster display to the
Australian Child Welfare Agency (ACWA) conference
next week from Monday 2nd August through to
Wed 4th August at Darling Harbour.

Look out for it coming to a venue near you !

Barb

NAIDOC Celebrations

It is NAIDOC Celebration time and the theme is "Unsung Heros". C4C staff and Community Partners were very happy to participate in activities at the Lake Illawarra PCYC on 1st July 2010. The event was organised by a broad team of people lead by Wendy Ainsworth from NSW Community Services. The majority of families participating are engaged with the many family support programs in the Illawarra and there was a presentation to Foster Carers who open their homes to children in need.

Richard Davis gave a Welcome to Country and the Wadi Wadi Mixed Tribe Dancers performed for the crowd. It was great to see the children join in as 'joey kangaroos'. The team from Park and Play were there to showcase their service along with displays from Housing NSW, National Parks and Wildlife, Community Services, lots of games and activities for the children. It was all hands on deck to cook the BBQ and serve the healthy salads and fruit salads. There were also tastings of kangaroo meat, crocodile and damper with native plant jams - my favourite was the Lilipilli spread.

Communities for Children sponsored a native animal display from Symbio Animal Park. Staff brought down a Golden Possum, baby Crocodile, Shingleback Lizard, Water Dragon and a beautiful Python. The children (Big and Small) were fascinated and learnt a lot about these beautiful animals, where to find them and how to look after them.

Tessa

Latest News from CfBD

Congratulations to Deb Langridge on the progress of their project as detailed in the attached letter. Another step closer to a Child Friendly City.

Well done Healthy Cities !

Barb

Park & Play School Holiday Activities

It's that time of year again when school holidays are fast approaching !
The Park & Play Team will be providing their service at the below mentioned parks during these July school holidays and would love to see some new faces.
Come along to either venues :

Wednesday 7th July 2010
Little Park Addison Avenue
SHELLHARBOUR
9.30 - 12.30 (o-12 Years Welcome)
Tuesday 13th July 2010
Drysdale Park Drysdale Road
ALBION PARK
9.30 - 12.30 (0-12 Years Welcome)

Visit the Park & Play link on the Family Services Illawarra Website for more information about their Term Program
www.fsi.org.au/section.content/park-play

Barb

WIDA - Breastfeeding Group at Shellharbour Hospital

Barnardos and the AMIHS (Aboriginal Maternal and Infant Health Service) want to support more Indigenous women to breast feed their babies. Elaine at Barnardos can be contacted on
42 75 85 75 to give more information on the service that is now available to any Aboriginal woman who currently is pregnant or has a newborn baby, be willing to try breastfeeding and attend a group regularly. With support given by way of transport where possible,vouchers as an encouragement to begin and continue breastfeeding, with lots of info on parenting as well.
There are culturally appropriate activities provided by Aunties from within the local community and a chance to form new friendships.

The Groups meet on a Wednesday from 10.30 - 12.30.

If you need assistance in transport please call Sara on 42 95 2417.

Barb

C4C Meeting

Communities for Children recently held their Committee meeting last Wed 9th June at the Headquarters and heartbeat of the Park and Play vans in Albion Park Rail. It was announced that the new Community Partners PCYC and Access Community Group will be delivering the Family Outreach Learning Activity targeting 8-12 Year Olds in Shellharbour. We are looking forward to the next two years of more valuable outcomes for the community.
There were many other ideas discussed with all Community Partners attending.

Barb

Tessa takes a trip Outback

Last week C4C program manager Tessa Parsons took a trip out to Nyngan, (637kms west of here) to present the new Talking Realities Young Parenting program DVD and evaluation report to a group of Barnardos Adolescent Services workers. The group were very interested in the program and are keen to look into the opportunities to adopt this great program.

It is always interesting to visit another site and the two hour drive from Dubbo to Nyngan brought home how isolated these communities can be. The youth workers told us that one of the complaints of the young people is that it is a three hour trip to the nearest McDonalds (some of us city slickers would say that was a blessing!) Severe drough conditions have eased a bit and the Bogan River is full for now, the countryside looked quite beautiful.

While in the area Tessa also took the opportunity to call in on the Communities for Children Dubbo and district program coordinator Rikki Price. Rikki has an office at Narromine and coordinates activities in Wellington, Narromine & Dubbo Shires. They exchanged resources from their sites and compared the challenges and successes of their sites. Tessa is looking forward to showing these beautiful resources at the next C4C Advisory group meeting in June.

Thanks to the extension of C4C funding to 2012 both program managers agree that more sustainable results are being achieved and many more families are better connected to their community and services.

Kidsfest Shellharbour Festival Finale !

Kidsfest Shellharbour Event Co-ordinator Carla Brookes says this year's festival broke all records with a 25 per cent increase on last year's numbers. "We had more than 2500 children attend 60 events during the week-long festival, including parents and carers, a total of 7500 people turned out over the week". Tessa Parsons Program Manager for Barnardos Communities for Children says she is thrilled with the success of Kidsfest Shellharbour 2010. "Kidsfest Shellharbour has been a wonderful celebration of children in the city and an opportunity for families to connect with services in the area. We will build on this success and make sure Kidsfest Shellharbour 2011 is even better". The Festival Finale finished with the Pram Parade at Little Park along the Shellharbour Foreshore.
As a foot note - there were 60 events on the program. Event highlights for the Festival would have to be Illawarra Light Rail Museum, Warilla Nth Celebrations, HARS, RFS, Fishing By the Lake, and the Festival Finale Parade (and everything in between !) !

Kidsfest Shellharbour is an activity of Communities for Children Shellharbour funded by the Australian Government that takes place in the lead up to Families Week.

Kidsfest Shellharbour will be back in May 2011- Mark it in your diary !
See you then............

Barb

12 Months In the Planning- Then - Here For One Week -Then Gone The Next !

It has been 12 months of planning that has made the Kidsfest Shellharbour Festival hugely successful. There were lots of activities undertaken in Albion Park and Shellharbour with many participants from babies to 12 year olds and their families, uniquely the festival was able to cater for the many who attended. This festival would not have the been success it was without the financial support of its sponsors, the many businesses involved and the work of the Kidsfest Team and their band of volunteers. Kidsfest will be back in May 2011. Hope to see you then.

Barb

Kidsfest Festival Has Arrived and is Celebrating !

Kidsfest Shellharbour kicked off Sunday 9th May at the Illawarra Light Rail Museum and what a great day it was ! With over 200 children and approx 500 people altogether, the weather, the venue, and especially the children made it such a special Mother's Day !
Please check http://www.kidsfestshellharbour.com.au/ website to see what else is happening this very busy fun week during Kidsfest.

Barb

Kidsfest Express - Here We Come !

Kidsfest Shellharbour 2010 was officially launched Monday 3rd May at the Illawarra Light Rail Museum in Albion Park Rail! Member for Throsby Jennie George, State Members Lylea McMahon and Matt Brown, Snr Manager of Barnardos South Coast Centre Kerry Moore, Major Sponsors and Parents and Grandparents were also amongst the many guests and children who attended the launch. With only 6 sleeps to go, the countdown now is well and truly underway. Mother's Day Picnic is now a tradition and this Sunday will officially be Day One of the event. Most events are free with a variety of activities to be undertaken, children can pick up their free Kidsfest Shellharbour Passport at events during the Festival. Kids can collect stickers for their passports by attending Kidsfest events and Kidsfest Playspots, then hand in their completed passport for a lucky dip prize. To find out more, and to download a full program go to www.kidsfestshellharbour.com.au .

Barb

Countdown to the Kidsfest Train !

Mothers across the Illawarra will take to the trains at the Mother's Day Picnic at the Illawarra Light Rail Museum on Sunday May 9th being the first day of Kidsfest Shellharbour 2010.
The week long festival is crammed with activities aimed at children 0 - 12 years, and, for those parents that have had to explain to their children that milk does not actually come from cartons, but from cows, there will be milking demonstrations at a local dairy farm in Albion Park!
Throughout the week there will be more than 60 events held across Shellharbour City, including the Biggest Playgroup at Myimbarr Community Park on Thursday 13th May and the Festival Finale at Little Park, Shellharbour on Saturday 15th May.
Children can collect their Kidsfest Passport at major events during the week.
To View the Kidsfest Shellharbour program visit http://www.kidsfestshellharbour.com.au/

Barb

Talking Realties- A Reality !

Do you know anyone under 21 years of age that is a young parent and would like the opportunity to gain training and work experience? If you do, you can tell them there is a fun relaxed way to gain training and work experience with other young parents, and, be paid $50 in vouchers for each school presentation! There are no costs involved, and, assistance * (*Conditions Apply) can be provided with transport and childcare, lunch is provided, with a social group and excursions and play group.
There is an info session going to be held on Wednesday 28th April at Warilla Nth Public School at 10 AM, where this young parenting peer education program can be better explained by the Co-Ordinators of the Barnardos Talking Realties Program.
For more info you can call 42 75 85 75 or 0404 849 398, we'd love to see you there !

Barb

Children's Health and Development Expo Coming Soon!

Its on again and coming soon ! Mark down in your diaries the Children's Health and Development Expo to be held during the week of Kidsfest on Wednesday 12th May 10 AM - 12 PM at "PlayDay's" Sunset Avenue Warilla. Free Entry for children aged under 5, with extra supervision available.

27 Sleeps to Kidsfest !

For the first time in Kidsfest 3 year history, Kidsfest Shellharbour will be broadening its reach to children aged 0-12 years. Previously the age bracket catered for 0-5 yr olds only. Kidsfest Co-Ordinator Carla Brookes is hoping for a larger audience than the 3500 last year, which saw people participate in about 110 activities across 64 festival sites around Shellharbour City. This year's events will include previous years favourites - The Biggest Playgroup and the Mother's Day Picnic at Illawarra Light Rail Museum. New events include Bike Safety Checks, Fishing by the Lake, as well as local AFL Clubs offering introductory skills sessions and, St George Illawarra Dragons will be running a Backyard League Skills Clinic, plus a whole lot more !
For more information about Kidsfest Shellharbour or to Register
visit http://www.kidsfestshellharbour.org.au/

Barb

Expressions of Interest Call

We are very excited to be calling for Expressions of Interest from eligible community organisations to become our Community Partner for a new activity under our C4C strategic plan for Shellharbour.

Full details of the proposed activity "Family Outreach Learning" (working title) can be found by following the links on the http://www.shellharbourkids.com.au/ website.

The closing date for applications is 30th April 2010.

Jennie George Makes Official Announcement Mon 29th March 2010

Jennie George met with representatives from the Barnardos Communities for Children Project (C4C) today. Pictured left (standing) is Frank Wallner Manager -Child Friendly by Design Project- (Healthy Cities Illawarra), Lynda Sinnott Program Manager-Talking Realties- (Barnardos Sth Coast), Lynne Schubert Co-Ordinator -Park & Play (Family Services Illawarra) Carla Brookes Co-Ordinator -Kidsfest (S.H.A.P.E) Wendy Lander - Kidsfest -(S.H.A.P.E) James Mulholland -(with daughter Georgia) Aboriginal Community Liason Officer -(Barnardos Communities for Children) Tessa Parsons- Program Manager- (Barnardos Communities for Children) Kerry Moore -Senior Manager -Barnardos Sth Coast. The announcement by Jennie of $194,500 in extra funding allocated over the next three years, will allow Barnardos Australia to continuosly work with other local organisations and continue to make home visits, deliver early learning and literacy, early development, parenting and family support, and child nutrition services along with family and children focused events.

Barb

Seniors by the Sea

Tessa Parsons attended the "Seniors by the Sea" activity last Thursday 25th March, as part of Seniors week.
Over 400 seniors enjoyed a lovely sunny day by the sea at Little Park Shellharbour.
C4C (Communities for Children) were happy to sponsor the musical entertainment provided by
Johhny Spillane and friends whilst Tessa was able to handout information about Grandparents as Carers, the upcoming Kidsfest Festival as well as other community information.
A great time was had by all !

Barb

Maggie Dent - Dare's to be Exceptional !

Maggie has just presented two FREE seminars on the 17th and 18th March and we would like to say a special "Thankyou"to both Flinders and Albion Park Rail's Public Schools for co-hosting these two events. With over 120 attendees, both Parents and Professionals heard Maggie speak about the chaotic pace of modern life and how it was challenging our young people and families than ever before. She also spoke about the hidden stresses of overstimulation from TV, computers and games, noisy environments, overscheduled lives and pressure to have their development "hurried up". "Safe nurturing touch with lots of hugs and cuddles is one of the best ways to trigger the healthy brain chemicals that allow a child to turn off their overactive stress mechanism". "By slowing down, we create the spaces to nurture healthier relationships within our families" Maggie said. As a parenting/resilience specialist and speaker, former high school teacher and author, her latest book "Saving Our Adolescents" is due for release at the end of the month. We would like to "Thank" Maggie for coming to the Illawarra and sharing her wealth of information. For more of Maggie's books and resources visit http://www.maggiedent.com/

Barb

International Women's Day Event -Friday- 12th March 2010

Shellharbour Hospital's Midwifery and Family Health Centre celebrated International Women's Day last Friday the 12 th March where a light lunch and free child minding were provided between 10 am and 2pm. There were masssages and facials and waxing and hair cuts available as was lots of info about "Quit Smoking" the IAMS services, Breastfeeding, Centrelink and the Dept of Housing. Also on hand were Child and Family Health Nurses and a Women's Health Nurse who were available to speak to the 50 or so participants. Staff from Barnardos South Coast Centre manned an Information table about the types of services available. Barnardos Communities for Children setup a fun participants activity with the view of starting a regular craft group at the centre.

A great day was had by all !

Barb

Maggie Dent is coming to Shellharbour this week !

This fabulous speaker has been in the media spotlight recently and we are so pleased that Maggie Dent is returning to Albion Park and Shellharbour this week. Maggie will be discussing "Lighting the Flame and Keeping it Burning" for Professionals this Wed 17th March from 6.30 -9Pm at Flinders Public School . Maggie will then discuss "Playful Hearts" -How Play Builds the Whole Child - from 9.30 am - 12.30 pm on Thursday 18th March at Albion Park Rail Public School Hall. If you would like to attend this FREE event and do have children , Barnardos Communities for Children can assist you with FREE CHILDMINDING . Please Telephone 42 75 85 75 as BOOKINGS are ESSENTIAL.
See you there !

Barb

Countdown to Kidsfest !

Kidsfest is Coming !
Mark on your calendar 9th -15th May 2010.
This Community Festival will be celebrating
children 0 -12 years and their families and carers.
You can visit http://www.kidsfestshellharbour.com.au/
to check out this great festival, or, enquiries can
be made to Shellharbour Tourism 4221 6169.
Program of events will be launched soon!

Barb

Wings Over the Illawarra and Kidsfest

On Sunday 28th February Judy & I teamed up with the KidsFest crew to present a KidsFest/Communities for Children display at Wings over the Illawarra. This community event is growing every year and highlights the fabulous resources of the Historic Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) at the Illawarra (Wollongong) Regional Airport, Albion Park Rail. HARS and their near neighbour The Illawarra Light Rail are both strong supporters of KidsFest so we all turned out to support them on their big day.
There were hundreds of exhibitors; planes, trains, automobiles and more. Connie (The Super Constellation) was still the crowd favourite but there were lots of other highlights, like the Roulettes and their death defying tricks, the vintage cars (love a red MG) and all the different aircraft from models right up to the Neptune and Catalina.
Carla and her family set up the KidsFest display and her son Douglas was a terrific helper. Not only did he help set up, run messages and take some great pictures including this one of Connie, but he also composed the quiz sheet for school children that we had on our table. He is quite an aircraft expert and told me lots of great facts, he also pointed out an error I had made on the picture matching sheet (Thanks Douglas!).
One of the most rewarding experiences I found while standing at the display was the number of people who came up and said – “Oh great – KidsFest, when is it on again? It was great last year and we don’t want to miss it!” The word is out there................
Thanks Judy, Carla and Family, Wendy, Wayne, Paul and Jeanette and any other SHAPE crew I did not see. I am sure the effort was worth it.
Tessa
C4C Program Manager

Talking Realties-Young Parents-Young Parenting

Are you a young parent under the age of 21 and
interested in gaining training and work experience by
becoming a "Peer Educator" ?
Peer Educators get the message out about the many types of
services for young parents and students that are available, and,
also get paid with a $50 voucher for each school presentation !
Interested ?
Telephone : Barnardos South Coast
on 42 75 85 75 or 0404 849 398

Shellharbour Council Website

Take a look at this great website with lots of information Shellharbour Kids

Maggie Dent is coming to Shellharbour.....

Just a reminder - Maggie Dent is coming to Shellharbour 17th and 18th March 2010.

Hope to see you there !

Barb