Children’s Week is a national celebration of children’s rights, talents and citizenship held in October.  Each year the theme of Children’s Week highlights a particular Children’s Right. This year the theme was Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child – Children have the right to have a say in matters that affect them, and for their views and opinions to be taken seriously.
 
The Family Centre Playgroup at South Golden Beach had a discussion around the importance of listening to our children when they do speak so that they feel heard and acknowledged. Each parent/carer was given a copy of Article 12 to put on their fridge as a reminder to them. The playgroup then joined together to paint the International Children’s Week logo. The enthusiasm wasn’t even stopped by a visiting Brown Snake that slithered by!

Imagine a community where all children have the best possible start in life…
 
Research tells us that children who attend pre-school start school with better pre-reading skills, richer vocabularies and stronger basic math skills than those who do not. When children miss out on the preparation that pre-school provides, catching up can be hard, and even detrimental for the rest of their lives.
 
Leonie Hamilton, Paediatric Speech Pathologist with NSW Community Health at Murwillumbah approached It Takes a Town (ITAT) because she was seeing many families missing out on the opportunity of attending preschool. In collaboration with ITAT the Preschool Scholarship was formed.
 
ITAT is looking for individuals and businesses who for as little as $5 per week can offer a local child a ‘Preschool Scholarship’ Scholarship contributions of $5, $10 or $20 a week for 41 weeks will support a child to arrive at school with the skills they need to have the best start possible.
 
The Preschool Scholarship was recently advertised on local social media with 3 people donating $20 per week for 41 weeks. This donation has already secured a place for 1 child for 2 days a week.
 
If you would like to find out more about the Preschool Scholarship, please contact Carmen Stuart 0400 007 831

The Family Centres local community supporter Recycled Mats have engaged local indigenous artist Christine Slabb to design a mat for charity. 
 
100% of the profits of this mat are being donated to The Family Centre. Sales from the mat since July 2018 have raised $947.50 which will directly support our Creating Opportunities program.

The Creating Opportunities program promotes and funds educational, cultural, recreational/sportingopportunities for children and young people from vunerable families in our community.
 
The Family Centre works with a large number of disadvantaged families where children do not have access to opportunities that many of us take for granted. This restricts the life chances of these children and young people and restricts their ability to reach their full potential
 
The program funds would be used to assist families with the costs of school uniforms, school excursions, remedial tutoring, musical tuition and instruments, books, computer equipment, sports club fees and uniforms, travel and accommodation to events etc. 
 
If you would like to find out more, donate or fundraise for the Creating Opportunities Fund contact The Family Centre on (07) 5524 8711.

The Family Centre’s Youth and Family Services team support young people (12–17 years) and families either as a family or individually in the Tweed, Byron and Ballina Shires.
 
Youth and Family Workers assist in identifying participants’ strengths and develop goals that specify how they would like things to be. Once goals are identified they work together to create a support plan, outlining how we can assist participants to achieve their goals.
The support plan is driven by the needs of the young person and/or their family and can include: relationships and parenting skills development, providing information about services and helping to access those services.

The Family Centre also provide a range courses and other support options for young people in schools and the community and parenting courses for parents/carers.

Do you sometimes feel misunderstood or that you are not being heard?
Are you finding it difficult handling life’s most challenging conversations?
Want to develop new skills and strategies to make those conversations easier?

Conversations for Change is a 1-day course that explores steps for handling life’s most difficult and important conversations in valued relationship with partners, family, friends and colleagues. You’ll learn how to prepare for situations and transform anger and hurt feelings into a useful conversation. In this workshop you will learn and practice the skills that can open up a dialogue about the most difficult topics.

The next course is on Saturday November 17, 9.30am–3.30pm at The Family Centre Unit 1/14 Amber Road, South Tweed Heads. Cost: $15 (includes lunch)

We are delighted this month to welcome Paul Mamone and Joanne Heighes to DAISI's Support Coordinator team. Paul and Jo will be working primarily in the Tweed and on Gold Coast, helping our customers activate their NDIS plans and get the right support at the right time.

Paul has moved up from Melbourne after working in community services for the past 3 years. Since completing his counselling studies he has worked in vocational counselling, community dementia care and NDIS navigation. 

Jo has worked in the Disability Sector for 32 years, as a Teacher’s Aide in Special Education, a Support Worker in Disability Services and as an Educational Interpreter in the school system using AUSLAN (Australian Sign Language). She also runs her own Introduction to Auslan class at Community College and teaches Cert. 4 in Disability with TAFE.
 
To find out more about DAISI’s services call 1800 800 340 or email [email protected]

Julie Stephens has been volunteering with The Family Centre for 18 months, 2-3 days per week. After completing a Certificate 4 in Community Services Julie was seeking volunteer opportunities that would complement her studies and use the skills she had learnt through her studies to gain experience.
 
Working closely with the Connecting Home team Julie has driven the rental list project. Each week Julie sources and vets’ potential rental and share rental opportunities for young people in our programs in the Tweed, Ballina and Byron Shires. The rental list is then put into a database which is easy for Youth and Family workers to access in a timely and ordered manner saving them many hours of searching. The list is also posted to the Connecting Home Facebook page and a printed copy is available at our Frances St reception.
 
Julie has recently been trained to be a volunteer intake worker. Julie says this role has allowed her to draw on what she has learnt through her studies and put them into practice. She is grateful for the support and training she has received from the Child and Family Workers and finds the environment at The Family Centre nurturing and supportive – enabling her to feel that she is part of the team.
 
Julie is also actively involved volunteering for the Red Cross working in the Mates program with seniors.

You are warmly invited to our 30thAnnual General Meeting

5pm – AGM and “Voices from Our Community”
Hear about our recent achievements, and our direction for the year ahead. And who better to tell the story of our year than the young people and families who participated in our programs and activities, our volunteers, our community partners and supporters?  Hear them share their stories and experiences of The Family Centre in the ‘Voices from Our Community’ panel discussion. 
 
6pm – Reflection and celebration 
After the AGM we’d love you to join us for some light refreshments. There’s been some amazing initiatives and achievements this year, with plenty of reasons to reflect and celebrate. Meet and mingle with our dedicated team of board members, staff, volunteers, community partners, sponsors and supporters. Let’s talk about your ideas about how we can be an even more vibrant and inclusive community. This is a child friendly event, so bring the kids along.
 
Thursday, November 15, 5–7pm
The Family Centre
Unit 1/14 Amber Rd, Tweed Heads South