Zanette Clements – Barnardos Champion

My name is Zanette Clements and I identify as a proud Kamilaroi woman. I live and work in the place where I was born, Cobar NSW. I’ve been with Barnardos for 15 years and I’m the Team Leader for Reconnect Western NSW.

To me, NAIDOC Week is an important celebration and an acknowledgment of our culture, our ancestors, our elders, family and community, the past, present, and future, and our achievements. When I was 17 or 18, I won a local NAIDOC award in Albury where I spent my formative years. My award was for my contribution to the performing arts by a young person, and I was just so proud to be there with my Mum. I remember, in that moment I felt validated and proud to be me, and proud to be a young Aboriginal woman who was acknowledged for her contribution and talent. I love the fact that communities across our great country celebrate the achievements of their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples during NAIDOC Week. It shows us, and it shows me, that there are some truly amazing and talented First Nations people who do so much for their community, and to have their contributions recognised and acknowledged is so very important.

Prior to becoming a youth worker, I was a circus artist. I started out as an 8-year-old at the Flying Fruit Fly Circus where I spent 11 years, before entering the wider professional circus and physical theatre industry. I became really interested in the social benefits of circus and how it was a connector and an outlet for people who were from vulnerable and diverse backgrounds; it was a creative support system of sorts, and I saw the benefits firsthand. I loved how I could connect with my students through the circus arts and learn about their lives and their challenges. Seeing them achieve their goals, supporting them in their skills development, and helping them to become resilient and confident young people, was incredibly rewarding and special to be a part of. To this day, Circus skills workshops are the tool I have used most in my work with youth, it’s just an amazing way to connect with young people and to build positive and lasting relationships with them, it just works!

I hope that all the young people I have worked with over the years will continue to grow and develop, find their passion, and purpose, and feel happy, excited, and proud about who they are, where they come from, and where they are going. I hope that I can provide them with tools that they can continue to use as they grow, and most of all, I hope that they realise how so very special and important they are.

My hope for the future is to continue to make a difference and continue to learn and evolve. I am keen to learn more about working with Aboriginal children, youth, and families; as an Aboriginal person, sometimes there is the assumption that we already have those skills, but for me personally, this is a space I would love to learn more about and be involved in. There is always so much to learn.

Celebrating NAIDOC week 2023

Southern NSW Children’s Family Centre

Southern NSW Children’s Family Centre (SNSW) were honoured to support the Queanbeyan NAIDOC Working Group in putting together a NAIDOC Community Day for 2023 on Monday the 3rd of July 2023.

It provided us with an excellent opportunity to connect with the community and other service providers while celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture.

The Working Group put together an exciting program for this event, including food, fairy floss, touch footy, bracelet weaving, face painting, cultural tools demonstrations and more.

SNSW was honoured to continue to learn from local Wiradjuri storyteller Larry Brandy who shared some of his cultural knowledge (and some fun platypus-themed craft activities!). Homework Club had lots of fun games, and a quieter location set up for those who wanted some ‘chill-out’ time throughout the day.

Elders from our community were honoured with an Elder’s luncheon in the community centre, and local Aboriginal performers provided stunning music and dance performances throughout the day.

NAIDOC Week in Queanbeyan offered an inclusive and welcoming environment for people of all backgrounds to unite and build strong community connections.

Celebrating NAIDOC week 2023

Queanbeyan Homework Club kids participated in the ACT Community Sector NAIDOC Week Event which was held Tuesday 4th July at the Woden Library and Town Square. There were a lot of workshops and activities, as well as market stalls by Aboriginal artists and creators.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

In week 10, our Homework Club students were very busy painting pieces to celebrate NAIDOC Week and the theme was ‘For Our Elders’! As part of the event, their paintings were put on display in the Westfield Woden ACT NAIDOC Activation space.

A huge shout-out to our old friend Travis (ex-Homework Club Worker) & his friend Jo from Vinnies, the entire ACT Community Sector NAIDOC Committee, and the lovely staff at Westfield for setting this up for the kids 😊

Auburn Children’s Family Centre

It was a beautiful Thursday morning to celebrate NAIDOC week at Auburn Centre. This was the very first time Ultimo Early Learning Centre kids travelled on the bus to visit our Auburn Long Day Care!

Many visitors, corporate volunteers and head office staff have attended and celebrated the event with our kids. We are grateful to Uncle Bruce and Vivianne Freeman for opening the event, and the Yurungai Learning Centre kids for their amazing performance. A massive thank you to Glasshouse Fragrances donated over 100 boxes of their Indigenous designed candle and soap bars for our event. Our centre was absolutely buzzing with chatter and laughter this morning!

This year NAIDOC week’s theme is ‘For the Elders’, we encourage everyone to seek the elders in your area, spend time knowing and learning from them. They held incredible knowledge, history and stories of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. It’s crucial that they will be passed on to the next generation.

Foster carers desperately needed for older children

Photo caption: Deanne Deans has fostered nine children in the last seven years and says it’s the best thing she’s ever done.

Training, generous allowance and 24/7 support provided.

MORE than 46,000 kids are in out-of-home care across Australia but at the same time, there are just over 9,000 foster care homes available, with Barnardos Australia launching a campaign to create awareness and highlight the need for more people to get involved.

Auburn resident Deanne Deans fosters through the Barnardos Auburn Children’s Family Centre and says carers provide vulnerable children and young people with care and support when they are no longer able to live with their birth families in a safe, secure and nurturing family home.

She joined in 2016 and has fostered nine children in that time.

“I have an amazing little boy at the moment who came to me at four-months-old, he’s now nearly eight months and I’m also lucky to stiil be in contact with my previous children with one coming to stay with me in the school holidays,” she said.

Deanne said fostering was the best thing she had ever done.”I feel like it has given my own three children, aged 18, 23 and 24, a different, more compassionate perspective on life and I’m a firm believer that when you give good out, good comes back,” she said.

“Children just want love, laughter and structure, knowing there’s the same meal times, play times and sleep times everyday.

“I can’t speak highly enough of the support that Barnardos provides and I certainly recommend it to others, it’s one of the best things you can do.”

Barnardos provides training, a generous allowance and 24/7 support, with foster carers desperately needed for school aged children and siblings. Call 1800 663 441 to find out more.

Learn more about being a foster carer

 

This article was first published in the Auburn Review here.

Respecting Copyright

Housing is a child safety issue

When it comes to protecting children, we never give up.

The current economic climate is making it impossible for some families to survive. Barnardos are calling on the Federal Government to shift some of the priorities outlined in the budget and seriously consider on the impact of children when making their decisions about where the money goes.

We welcome the acknowledgment and support from the Federal Government that issues affecting women and children like domestic and family violence, poverty, homelessness and the cost of living are at critically high levels.

But we need more than acknowledgement and the relatively small investment the budget promises if we are to end poverty, homelessness and violence towards women and children.

An additional $20 per week for those families on Jobseeker payments will not help in a meaningful way.

KIDSFEST Annual Play and Picnic Day

The South Coast Communities for Children Program held their annual play and picnic day at Shellharbour Civic Centre. It is part of KidsFest Shellharbour, which is the longest-running free weeklong festival for children, families, and carers in NSW. The theme this year was Planting Seeds of Diversity and Delight.

We established Paint Shellharbour REaD in 2016 as part of our funded programs, and since then have celebrated our mascot Bangu’s (a Flying Fox) birthday every year, at the picnic, to promote the importance of singing, reading and rhyming every day. There was incredible support from our Community Partners, other external organisations and our own Kidstime and Family Support teams in providing various stalls which included, face painting, art and craft, ball games, music making, food, play, nature and transition to school activities.

Bangu had some special birthday visitors which included Billy Backpack and Bright Sparks. The children all sang Happy Birthday and shared in the delight of Bangu’s birthday cake.

Each child received a gorgeous Communities for Children Bag which had a story book and other goodies. Our Community Partners received a badge and lanyard. In all, it was an amazing day.

Western NSW HIPPY and the Wellington Show

As part of the Barnardos Wellington Age 5 HIPPY program, one of the curriculum activities is to make a robot from recycled materials. This activity helps children become more confident and involved learners and connected with their world.

We put the call out to our Wellington HIPPY families (both age 3 and 5) to make a robot using what they could find around the house and entered them into the local Wellington Show.

The exhibits were entered under the art category for ‘5 years and under – Recycled Article’. The robots looked fantastic and we had 1st, 2nd, and 3rd winners and 2 ‘highly commended’ in our group.

This is just one of the many ways that HIPPY Wellington is helping families to build strong relationships and connections within the family unit and in the Wellington community.

Congratulations to all the families who participated in such a meaningful way.

International Family Equality Day and Family Pride Day

Yesterday was International Family Equality Day which celebrates the diversity of LGBTQIA+ families around the world. Barnardos Carer Recruitment and Intake team celebrated the day with their partners at Rainbow Families attending their Family Pride Day event in Marrickville Town Hall.

It was wonderful to see so many happy, loving and diverse families including Barnardos foster carers and children. Thank you to Rainbow Families and all the community partners who made the day such a success.

Auburn Children’s Family Centre voted favourite local community organisation!

Barnardos Auburn Children’s Family Centre was voted the favourite local community organisation in both Lidcombe and Auburn Commonwealth Bank (CBA) branch, twice in a year! As a result, we will be receiving two $500 cheques from Commonwealth Bank (CBA) as a funding boost from their Community Donations Program.

CBA’s Community Donations Program is a nation wide initiative. They have donated over $350,000 in July 2022 to organisations within local communities that make a difference. We were very grateful to be the successful recipient twice in a year. We are fortunate to have these champions for children join us in supporting struggling children and families in our local areas.

Happy Eid with Auburn Children’s Family Centre

Eid Mubarak! Eid occurs at the end of Ramadan, where our Muslim brothers and sisters celebrate by having a special feast and praying together with their family and community.

At Auburn Children’s Family Centre, quite a few of our staff had entered a month of fasting and extra praying, which to them Ramadan means strengthening their relationship with God and showing kindness and patience. To some of us who don’t follow the Islam religion, we simply share the significance of the month by attending the Ramadan Night Market. It’s noteworthy to mention the Ramanda Market at Lakemba is something all of us should attend. It is a massive event hosted by the Canterbury Bankstown Council. You can try all different kinds of cultural food there. For the very first time, I had a camel burger, which surprisingly was very delicious! Few of our Auburn staff have visited the market to join the festivities. We also bumped in a few head office staff at the market as well.

So to all our Muslim colleagues and clients, Eid Mubarak to you and your family.

Meet Penrith CFC Family Support Team

Introducing our Family Support & Intensive Family Preservation Team at Penrith Children’s Family Centre!

Melissa Cooke is the program manager for this team, but Mel also manages the:

Community Counselling Clinic with Western Sydney University, Legal Clinic with WSU, Art Therapist, Accommodation Program Onsite and so much more!

The team has:

Intensive Family Preservation case managers Hareet Klair & Sneha Suryakumar.

Family Support case managers Tamara McCann & Kristal Kellaway.

Intake & Community Support Worker Simone Reynolds.

Group Work Co-Ordinator Jessica Johnsson.

We’ve currently got 2 students completing placement with the program, Olivia & Mervyn, who have already been a huge help to the team with casework and events.