Children give to Canberra Day Appeal
Yesterday, on the launch of the Canberra Giving Day, our early childhood centres and out-of-school-hours care programs across the ACT helped raise much-needed funds for our programs and services.
Over the previous four weeks, the centres had been collecting coins from family members to donate to the Canberra Day Appeal. This culminated in the children making ‘coin snakes’.
There were a couple of lovely stories from our Florey out-of-school-hours care program. One child, Logan, generously contributed coins from his piggy bank! He and some peers then made a ‘coin snake’, where each child had the opportunity to add to the length and value of the snake with the collected coins. They then calculated the value of the coins, proudly announcing a total of $3.60 in their snake.
Mia donated $10 towards the length of the coin snake. Along with her friend Saskia, excitedly created a coin snake, with some other friends helping out too.
These activities helped the children learn about generosity and giving back to the community, empowering them to experience making a difference in the lives of others.
We are thankful to all children and families who participated and helped us raise funds.
It’s not too late to help us reach our goal of raising $8,000 so that we can continue to run our vital programs and services across the Capital Region. Until 8 March, every $1 you donate will become $2 thanks to Canberra Day Appeal for the first $2,500 we fundraise, then Aldermane will match up to another $1,500. Please donate now!
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Following on from the signage placed around the Belconnen Community Centre and notices distributed to participants, we are sharing this update to confirm that the Swanson Court carpark has now permanently closed as of Tuesday 2 April 2025, due to a new development at the site by JWLand.
Young people in Belconnen now have easier access to free, confidential health and wellbeing support with the arrival of the T25 Clinic at Belconnen Youth Centre. Every Thursday from 2pm to 5pm the T25 Clinic van, Mini Pat, will be on-site offering a safe and welcoming space for young people aged 12 to 25. There’s no need for an appointment – just drop in when you need support.
The Canberra Day Appeal 2025 has wrapped up for another year and we are grateful to everyone who contributed, either by making a donation or helping to spread awareness. Thanks to the generosity of our community, employees and corporate supporters, we raised an amazing $6,736.40 – an increase from $5590 in 2024. These funds will go directly towards recruiting, training and supporting more volunteer transport drivers, ensuring people in our community can get to their essential medical appointments for chronic health conditions such as cancer and kidney disease.
Patsy is a lifelong storyteller and a creative spirit. For nearly 20 years, she was a storyteller at early childhood education centres, captivating children with her tales – sometimes using handmade props to bring them to life, other times sharing stories she wrote herself. Creativity has always been second nature to her, and when she’s caught up in a project, time flies by often leading to late nights. Though she recently stepped away from storytelling, she continues her creative pursuits, including a quilt project through Involve (stay tuned!).
For Therese Beckmann, sewing isn’t just about fabric and stitches – it’s a way of telling stories, bringing people together and creating something meaningful. After 30 years of working in sewing, dressmaking and teaching, she realised she wanted to take her skills beyond the retail space and into the community. She had always felt drawn to the senior age group, especially after hearing students in her art classes say, “This is better than therapy.” Hearing it over and over made her realise just how powerful creativity could be in bringing people together and improving wellbeing.