Category: News

Earlier this week, the NSW Government delivered the budget for the forthcoming financial year with housing as the centrepiece. You can read our organisational statement below or on LinkedIn here and watch CEO Deirdre Cheers’s statement video.

The 2024 Barnardos Supporter Survey results are in.

Sent in January to more than 4,000 supporters and with an above-average response rate validating our sample’s representation, the data collected provided pertinent insights about our supporters, their motivations and their preferences. Receiving honest feedback about us as an organisation is crucial and we are pleased to share that, overall, feedback was very positive with many respondents taking this opportunity to congratulate the work that we do on a daily basis.

We thank each and every one of them for having taken the time to fill in this survey, as a Champion for Children, their voice matters!

Highlights from what our supporters told us include:

• Over 98% of respondents feel their donations are making an impact on improving the lives of vulnerable children, young people and families. This was also the motivation given for supporting Barnardos, more than for any other reasons.
• The areas of our work which are of most interest are: supporting abused and neglected children, including those exposed to domestic violence and/or experiencing homelessness, to heal from their trauma.
• 89% of respondents are satisfied with the overall quality of our communications with them.
• For those who follow us on social media, Facebook is the most popular platform.
• More than 90% of respondents are aware they can leave a gift to Barnardos in their Will.
• The single most common comment made was “Keep up the good work”.
• Many comments received were about a personal connection to Barnardos or why they first started supporting our charity, such as “I support Barnardos as I was introduced to them in Infants and Primary School.”

A week of Reconciliation events

Last week, our staff at Penrith’s Children Family Centre came together to celebrate Reconciliation Week. We created different artworks together as a team while sharing stories on how we could strengthen relationship with our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, families and communities. These new artworks are looking fabulous on our reception wall.

Mt Druitt Reconciliation Walk

2024 marks the 27th anniversary of the Reconciliation Walk and Gathering at Dawson Mall in Mount Druitt.

Some of our Penrith Children’s Family Centre staff represented Barnardos on the gathering. Even though the weather on Saturday wasn’t perfect for a walk, we still showed up and joined many other organisations and community members in celebrating this important event and the true meaning of Reconciliation – the building of mutual and respectful relationships between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians.

On Tuesday, Barnardos Australia Sydney Metro Children’s Family Centre hosted a BBQ to celebrate Reconciliation week.

The event was attended by team members from across our centre and included a BBQ run by our Sydney Youth Services (and attended by over 100 local young people), bag decorating and a photo booth. The afternoon ended with a beautiful yarning circle facilitated by the Yurungai Learning Centre where children and staff discussed what Reconciliation means to them.

We also welcomed Lynette from Reconciliation Australia who was keen to engage with the team and hear more about our work.

BLUE Mountains Musical Society has raised $8000 for Barnardos Australia from a limited concert season of the Gilbert and Sullivan musical comedy, the Pirates of Penzance.

The two charity performances at the Blue Mountains Theatre in Springwood on April 27 were a smash hit with audiences – while also raising money for the children’s charity.

The initiative came about as result of the sheer amount of performing talent on offer in the Blue Mountains. With BMMS holding cast auditions for two productions each year it is forced to turn
away many talented hopefuls because there simply aren’t enough roles.

“It’s kind of disheartening to say ‘Hey, you’re a phenomenal talent, we’d love you to be in our show but we just can’t put you on stage because there’s too many people already’,” said BMMS
president Aubtin Namdar.

So when almost 150 people auditioned for less than 50 roles in the society’s upcoming season of The Sound of Music (opening on May 25), the committee decided to stage an extra show to take
advantage of this excess of talent. The new show would be in a concert format with a strictly limited season, allowing for a shorter than usual rehearsal period with the added benefit of having
lower production costs.

Enter the Pirates of Penzance. The Gilbert and Sullivan favourite was brought to the stage with just five rehearsals, including one dress rehearsal at the venue on the night before it opened. A full
BMMS production usually involves twice-weekly rehearsals over three months.

The Gilbert and Sullivan favourite was embraced by local audiences with both performances greeted rapturously by packed theatres.

With no elaborate sets, the concert format also allowed the orchestra to be featured prominently on stage rather than hidden from the audience.

Mr Namdar said they would love to make the concerts an annual event but this would depend on other commitments, including plans to produce a third production each year featuring under-18s performers.

First published at the Blue Mountains Gazette here

My name is Michael Dunne and I’m the Centre Manager here in the Canberra Children’s Family Centre. I’ve been at Barnardos for 12 years.
A common misconception about Canberra is that it’s boring and always cold. Canberra is a very welcoming community. It is quite the opposite of boring, it’s a great community to raise children.

I came to Australia in 2012 and started with Barnardos. When I moved to Australia, my children were very young and I’d come from a career where I was on call seven days a week, 365 days a year. I worked nonstop. I found that Barnardos was an incredibly family friendly organisation that allowed me to actually be present for my kids and to see them grow up, which is what I missed with my eldest daughter. The support at Barnardos has always been fantastic. It’s what’s kept me here for 12 years.

When I was a child growing up in Ireland, I wanted to be a vet. I started off my career as a butcher, then worked in the building construction for years. I was also a prison officer and then I managed a children’s detention centre secure unit in Ireland for the Irish Justice Service. My background was in criminology.

In the last 60 years, the greatest impact by Barnardos on the Canberra community is probably the fact that we move with the needs of the community. The Children’s Family Centre in Canberra has been for focal point for the community. We’ve always been here and will be for the next 60 years hopefully. In an ideal world, children and families wouldn’t need the support of Barnardos. But if they do that, it’s accessible, it’s easy to find and easy to resource. Here, there is always an open door for families who need support.

Our Canberra Centre is a great training ground for young people starting out in this type of work. We’ve got many dedicated staff who have been here for many years and probably couldn’t see themselves working anywhere else. My proudest achievement working in Barnardos is probably the Intensive Intervention Service which I set up when I started. It provides fantastic support to young people, children and families across the ACT and is still going strong today.

The links we have with the other community services are really strong. We work hard on collaboration and we see that as one of our strong points. It doesn’t matter whether we’re competitors, we all work for the same goal. Barnardos Canberra wants to work with other people. We can’t do it all on our own. To give the best community, we all must work together, and we live and breathe that on a daily basis.

The other thing love about Barnardos is that we never give up. Whenever other services walk away, we stay, and we keep knocking on the door. We work really hard to build relationships with all the people that come to us and strong relationships with a cornerstone of everything we do. When the going gets tough, we don’t go. We stick in there.

WATCH BARNARDOS 60th ANNIVERSARY IN CANBERRA

On the 1st May, our Barnardos South Coast Centre held a candlelight vigil to remember the women and children who have lost their lives to domestic and family violence. Each candle represented the 28 lives taken too soon.

Candlelight vigils across the country marked National Domestic Violence Remembrance Day.

We mourn the women and children who have lost their lives due to violence and we stand with victim-survivors and all people impacted by domestic and family violence.

We stand with them during this time to work towards the goal of eliminating domestic, family and sexual violence in our society.

If you or someone you know is affected by domestic, family, or sexual violence, please reach out to our Leadership Team, EAP, or call the toll-free number 24-hours a day, 7 days a week for support on 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732.

Barnardos Australia is excited to announce their inaugural fundraising art show will be happening on May 16, 2024 at the National Art School’s Cellblock Theatre in Darlinghurst for one night only.

The theme of the show is “Fearlessly Optimistic” with artists kindly donating never-before-seen artworks created especially for the event.

All proceeds will go to Barnardos Australia safety and prevention programs.

For more information

Buy tickets