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