$98,000 grant to the KIDS Foundation

Wednesday, 31 July 2019

SeeMore Safety, a free safety education program addressing major health concerns including childhood injury, self-awareness and wellbeing, will be delivered into 650 early learning centres and preschools throughout regional NSW, thanks to a grant from Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation. 

This internationally recognised education program developed by KIDS Foundation will be delivered into 650 early learning centres and preschools throughout regional NSW. The program gives four-to-six-year-old children the base-level skills needed to manage safety risk awareness throughout their lives. Delivered by educators, the program has a child-centred approach to safety education and teaches safety risk understanding and awareness.  

A $98,000 grant to the KIDS Foundation from Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation has allowed KIDS to extend the reach of the SeeMore Building Strong Lives program to preschools across regional NSW, which will mean that approximately 23,000 children and their families will have free access to the program and its resources.  

KIDS Foundation Founder and CEO, Dr Susie O’Neill says the program develops the ability in children to take control for their safety by identifying, acknowledging and responding in a calculated way to various situations. 

Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation Chair, Phil Neat is delighted that the Charitable Foundation’s grant is allowing young people living across regional NSW and their families the opportunity to enjoy this program at no cost to them. 

 “I’ve recently learned the statistics around childhood injuries and they are simply too high. This program is giving children who are amongst the most vulnerable members of our community the opportunity to learn about risk and why they need to think about making good, positive and safe choices,” Phil said.  

The SeeMore Safety Program was launched in Newcastle at Cooks Hill Preschool on Thursday 25 July. Staff and children at the preschool were excited to learn about safety and a special visit from KIDS Foundation’s life-sized mascot ‘SeeMore Safety’ helped kick off the program.  

Participating preschools receive a SeeMore Safety Education Pack at no cost that includes take-home activity books, safety identification posters, teacher resources, a journal, mascot and access to a virtual library of safety resources and games.