Central Coast

Safe Children, Safe Families

Region - Hunter, Central Coast

Safe Children, Safe Families aims to reduce the risk of abuse, improve social competence and emotional maturity, and provide education and information for parents, early childcare educators and their children. It is the only evidence-based program in Australia that improves the emotional and social intelligence of children, particularly in recognising emotions and identifying unsafe situations.

Safe Children, Safe Families involves a three-part education model delivered in early-childhood learning centres to children, parents and educators to increase the capacity of children and their families to identify and avoid potential abuse.

The Foundation’s grant of $88,000 will enable the expansion of Safe Children, Safe Families into the Hunter and Central Coast regions. The program will be delivered directly to 500 families with children aged 3-5 years and their childcare educators at early learning centres. The funding will also be used to create an online version of the program targeting regional and remote areas using film, web resources and a webinar to support delivery to regional communities with an initial target of a further 20,000 families in the Hunter and Central Coast regions.

As1 Schools Program

Region - Hunter, Central Coast, Mid North Coast, Northern Rivers, Central West, New England

Diabetes NSW’s As1 Schools Program will use Schools Training Workshops and As1 Health Resource Kits to deliver better health outcomes and social well-being for young people with Type 1 Diabetes. 

Type 1 Diabetes is a non-preventable, auto-immune condition that generally appears in childhood and, in NSW, there is a 40% hospitalisation rate for children under the age of 15 with the disease.

The As1 Schools Program will provide training to ensure that children with Type 1 Diabetes are safe and healthy at school and have a reduced risk of complications or an emergency situation by equipping teachers and childcare workers with the necessary knowledge to manage the risks and complications associated with Type 1 Diabetes.

The Foundation’s grant of $39,246 will facilitate six workshops; one in each of the Foundation’s operating regions. Additionally, the support will provide funding for 200 As1 Health Resource Kits—enough to supply each young person expected to be diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in our area in 2018.

Face Diagnosis Project

Region - Hunter, Central Coast, Mid North Coast, Northern Rivers, Central West, New England

An estimated 70% of children with an intellectual disability remain undiagnosed. Of these, 30 to 50% have associated skull and facial changes and when in a recognisable pattern this is referred to as a syndrome. The Face Diagnosis Project funded by a grant of $143,630 from the Foundation will create an innovative face-matching database that will reduce the time for and improve the accuracy of diagnosis, and facilitate intellectual disability gene discovery.

Using advanced facial recognition technology—originally developed for policing, counter-terrorism, and military applications—parents, doctors, and geneticists can access a secure and encrypted portal to upload images and information about their child. After comparing this information with other children around the world, a swift diagnosis may be achieved. This will enable effective treatment and/or therapy for the condition, as well as reduce possible need for expensive DNA testing to determine the condition. 

NICVIEW Project - Installation of NICU web cams

Region - Hunter, Central Coast, Mid-North Coast, New England

John Hunter Children's Hospital Kids Club, as part of the United Hospital Auxiliaries of NSW, raises vital funds solely for the John Hunter Children's Hospital. 

With a grant of $186,428, the Kids Club will implement Australia’s first ever NICVIEW system which will connect remote families with their newborns while in the care of Northern NSW’s only Neonatal Intensive Care Unit which provides care for up to 1200 babies each year from across NSW, including some of our most rural and remote regions. 

The NICVIEW project will include installation of specialised web cameras on each of the NICU’s 42 beds with a live-feed accessible by baby’s family through a secure, password protected connection to any computer, tablet, phone or similar device. NICVIEW means that family, often separated due to work, school or care commitments, can connect and bond with the newest member of the family, no matter how far away they may be

Preventative Health Education for Disadvantaged Children

Region - Hunter, Central Coast

Life Education NSW is the largest not-for-profit provider of preventative drug and health education in Australian schools. The Foundation will provide $77,000 to purchase a new truck to tow the five Mobile Learning Centres which bring the Life Education program to more than 146 schools with over 32,000 children throughout the Hunter and Centre Coast regions each year. 

The truck will help to ensure the future of the Life Education organisation in this area as they can deliver the mobile classroom to local schools safely and efficiently for many years to come.

MMAD Intimate Podcast

Region - Hunter, Central Coast, Mid North Coast, Northern Rivers, Central West, New England

MMAD, a NSW Central Coast-based charity, provides creative support to help young people overcome challenges such as homelessness, destructive patterns of behaviour, exclusion from school, family breakdown, drug and alcohol dependency, unemployment and reoffending.  MMAD’s goal is to break negative cycles and empower young people to go on and make their own difference within the community.

The Rhyme and Reason Podcast received $48,560 from the Foundation to enable MMAD to reach young people who are unable to access the MMAD programs due to location or other constraints. The 12-month pilot program will take the core content of MMAD's successful on-the-ground programs and release a podcast each month, which will be available to community radio, organisations such as juvenile justice and community youth groups, and the general public via social media and download.

Additionally, the MMAD Intimate Podcast will enable the launch of a Central Coast-based youth training program that will teach valuable employment skills to participants in areas such as sound production, radio and journalism.

NB: this grant will bring the total amount donated by the Foundation to MMAD to $189,260 (since 2011).

Rookie and Youth Leadership Development Programs

Region - Central Coast

The Foundation’s grant of $33,500 will provide support to approximately 500 13 to 17-year-old junior life savers across the 15 Central Coast patrolled beaches.

This grant will add to the support already provided to Surf Life Saving Central Coast by Newcastle Permanent.

The Rookie Program is delivered across three major streams: a mentor program with experienced lifesavers; events and activities for Rookies away from the beach designed to build appreciation for and understanding of community; and recognition through annual awards.

The Youth Leadership Program will engage 30 Rookies across a range of theory sessions and physical activities that challenge the individual and educate them in essential life skills, arming them with some of the skills required to be future community leaders.

Major partner youth activities – NPBS. 

Beat Cancer @ Work

Region - Hunter and Central Coast

The Cancer Council NSW’s Beat Cancer @ Work program was launched in late 2016 and to date more than 2,000 workers have participated in the program that covers three main pillars: provide information about cancer; deliver a preventative cancer message to participants; and offer an overview of the supportive care measures the Cancer Council can provide to assist and support those with cancer, their families and carers. 

This grant of $32,912 will be used to purchase a vehicle that will be exclusively used to support the delivery of the program in the Foundation’s geographical footprint. Based in Newcastle, the vehicle will travel throughout the Hunter and Central Coast regions, and further afield as demand for the Beat Cancer @ Work program grows.

NB: the Foundation has previously donated $237,000 to Cancer Council NSW.

Young Bloods Program

Region - Hunter, Central Coast, Mid North Coast, Northern Rivers, Central West, New England

The Leukaemia Foundation has developed the ‘Young Bloods’ program aimed at providing professional support to address issues faced and enable young people to develop the resilience to stay, or get back, on track to enjoy life as they are meant to. Young Bloods is designed to meet the physical, psychological and educational impact of blood cancer on children and young adults who have been diagnosed with a blood cancer or who have close family members who have been diagnosed with a blood cancer. Young Bloods provides support in the form of financial grants paid to families for physical, psychosocial and educational support that is considered appropriate by their personal medical specialists. 

The Foundation will provide $65,000 for the Leukaemia Foundation to launch the Young Bloods program in the Foundations operating area in regional NSW including directly supporting up to 70 young people with, or recovering from, a serious cancer diagnosis.

Wigs for Kids

Region - Hunter, Central Coast, Mid North Coast, Northern Rivers, Central West, New England

Variety – the Children’s Charity, among its many amazing programs for sick and disadvantaged children, provides wigs to kids who have lost their hair due to Alopecia or another medical condition such as cancer. Losing your hair can have profound psychological effects, particularly through childhood and adolescence. One specialised can wig cost up to $5,000 and lasts two to three years so the cost is prohibitive for many families.  

The Foundation’s grant of $74,800 will help Variety launch the Wigs 4 Kids in regional NSW to provide wigs to children whose families are unable to afford the service themselves.