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Good360 generosity continues

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Cire Services and those in need within our reach have again benefited from the generosity of the expansive Good360 network.

Our Community School students recently welcomed a shipment of Lego with great enthusiasm. At the same time, a donation of Optus Donate Your Data SIM cards are being distributed throughout Cire to those doing it tough, particularly with the rising cost of living and ongoing impact of the pandemic.

Executive Manager of Education Peri Dix described Lego as an excellent learning tool, providing students of all ages and abilities to be creative, follow instructions and practice their spatial reasoning skills.

“This is all happening through ‘just playing with Lego’,” Peri explained.

And as one student added: “I love Lego; it helps me calm down and build my own things.”

Cire is part of a Good360 pilot in conjunction with Optus with the SIM cards, where people donate their unused data towards a giving program.

Cire has been distributing SIMs through the Community School, Community Hubs, First Impressions Clothing Exchange and Cire Training’s Reconnect program.

Some of the beneficiaries within Cire’s reach have included several single mothers, including an asylum seeker, an abandoned mum with a baby and young children and a mum and son in hiding with an active AVO order.

Alicia, a single mum of five and struggling on a weekly budget, said she was very grateful for the SIM cards she and her two daughters received.

“It means I have more money for food and bills for my family,” Alicia said.

Another beneficiary was a young person experiencing mental health challenges. The young person was living in a situation without Wi-Fi at home and only one phone with limited data available, so she could not connect to vital counselling, training and education. The Donate, Your Data SIM card has not only allowed her to progress with her study but lifted her mental well-being.

Good360 generosity continues

Cire is a key Victorian charity partner of Good360. This leading Australian not-for-profit helps Australian companies and manufacturers channel their surplus new products to charities that can assist with grassroots distribution to those most in need.

Rather than add to landfills, Good360 aims to help repurpose $1 billion of brand new goods to Australians in need by 2025. Good360’s approach aligns directly with Cire’s core values, including our 2022 theme of Sustainability.

Good360’s partnership manager for Victoria and Tasmania, Liz Henderson, said

Cire is recognised as one of Good360’s key charity partners because of its agile and strategic approach to supporting its diverse range of services and, ultimately, people of all ages needing extra help in the Yarra Ranges beyond.

If you’re an NFP looking for donations, visit Good360 today?

Click here for further information on Cire’s Community School.

Welcome to Term 3 – Yarra Junction Community Hub

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Welcome to issue #8 of OurHub term 3 Guide. As you can see we’ve moved to an online version for Term 3. Don’t worry the much loved printed version will be back for Term 4, and we will also continue to deliver this online for those of you who prefer to check out what’s on offer on your phone or tablet (it’s even better for our beloved planet).

What a whirlwind the last three months have been for not only for our community but for all communities worldwide. We have had to learn to adapt to many changes in our day-to-day routines with everything but essential services closed. For me, these changes meant that I had to adapt to working from home, homeschooling four children and being thrown into the world of virtual meetings and catch-ups. Reflecting on the past few months, I am really grateful for the experience as it has given me the opportunity to spend quality time with my family, enjoy a slower pace of life and gain the confidence that I can adapt to any situation and come out stronger.

We closed the Hubs on 23rd March and I was very unsure of how I was going to support the community and provide courses and programs, without being able to deliver them in the centre. I am very grateful for my amazing team and together we kept coming up with innovative ideas to support the community. Our Fit 4 Life program was the first to be delivered via Zoom and with the members that did not have access to technology, we sent them an exercise DVD and exercise information sheets. We connected our Wednesday morning craft group together on Zoom, and despite some technical challenges, with patience and persistence, we got there in the end. The weekly catch-ups have kept the ladies feeling connected during this isolating time.

We launched Friday Night Live, a program created by our placement students from Box Hill Institute of TAFE, welcomed guest speakers each week and incorporated a question and answer section at the end. Guest speakers included Patrick Boucher and Danny Field from Yarra Ranges TV, David Shepard a Tai Chi instructor, and Emily Webbers, an Indigenous educator.

Two weeks before closed our Hubs, we welcomed Naomi to our team as the Chirnside Park Community Hub Coordinator (pictured above left). You may have already seen her on our weekly Cuppa and Chat sessions on our Facebook page, where she has kept us updated with what is going on at the Hubs. Naomi started the hugely successful Lock Down Lego Challenge on Facebook, reaching around 800 members. The group was created and new challenges were set up daily to engage families to get creative and build Lego. Due to the success of this group we are excited to be launching our Lego Group at both our hubs.

Level Up is unlikely to return to the Hubs in Term 3, or while limits on social gatherings are still in place. Level Up is extremely important for our young people however, we do not want to create a situation where some young people may need to be excluded from our programs. We are eager for Level Up to return as soon as we are able to provide a safe and inclusive environment for all. Gamers Lounge transitioned to an online format in May and will continue to do so for Term 3. Those interested in becoming involved can do so by joining our Facebook group.

We have our Centre link access point for the community to use during our operating hours. You can access the following services to use the internet, get brochures and fact sheets, use the phone claiming service, reply paid Medicare envelopes, scan, copy, print and upload documents and verify identity documents.

We look forward to welcoming you back to our Hub and as always, please feel free to stop in for a cuppa and chat and let us know what you would like to see in our programming.

If you would like to subscribe simply click the Sign Up! button above.

Enjoy OurHubs online
Jenelle Strachan – Manager – Cire Community Hubs

 

Family Learning Partnership Grant

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As part of our Term 3 schedule, Cire’s Community Hubs are proud to be introducing initiatives under the ‘Family Learning Partnerships’ Grant. This funding will help our team support local families to connect over a variety of projects.

At Cire, we LOVE learning! Our schools, courses and programs all provide opportunities for people to gain more skills and specialised knowledge. Developing family learning partnerships will help us introduce these opportunities to young people, parents, grandparents and carers throughout the community.

Our new “Create, Play, Grow” will inspire children and their carers to connect with nature. Cire’s very own ‘Farmer Jill’ has developed an exciting program to encourage everyone to use their senses, develop fine and gross motor skills, and improve investigation and questioning skills.  All of this, plus more, while enjoying the wonderful local environments at our Hubs.

We will be bringing our successful Lock Down Lego Challenge to the real world, with our Lego Group coming to the Hubs in Term 3. This program will see families working together on weekly builds, promoting team-work, communication and bonding over a common interest.

Our Yarra Junction Hub will be partnering with the Ben’s Shed to run woodworking workshops, with families learning basic building skills to create a project to take home. This series will be a great chance to get to know others in the Upper Yarra community, with various ages coming together to share their knowledge.

At our Chirnside Park Hub, we will be teaming up with our friends at Cire’s Community School in Mount Evelyn expanding our veggie garden to create a “learning landscape”. This project will open up more opportunities for locals of all ages to enjoy fresh produce.  We are also looking forward to featuring harvests as part of our upcoming Pop Up Café and community meals.

If you are looking for great food and fantastic company, come along to our Hubs for our monthly Community Lunches. Supporting the benefits of life-long learning, these meals will feature guest speakers covering a range of topics to keep your family happy, healthy and safe. A highlight is sure to be the lunches during school holidays, where we will be incorporating a range of fun activities for all ages!

The Family Learning Partnerships programs will also include a variety of outreach activities. We are very excited to be working with local schools to promote important themes like gender equity and healthy relationships. These sessions will allow us to meet with students, as well as their parents and carers, to inspire discussions and lead change. If you would like your school to be considered for our incursion program, please get in touch.

Over the coming year, our team will be attending and coordinating a number of events to interact with local families and groups. We will be connecting with people to dig a little deeper, to gain insights into how members of our community want to broaden their knowledge.

Plans are already underway for our annual Twilight Christmas Market. In addition to a huge range of stalls to cover all of your gifts, we will be on hand to hear from you what 2021 could bring for you in terms of personal and professional growth, and how, through a variety of courses. Pop Friday, 4 December in your calendar, as this is an event you will not want to miss!

The Family Learning Partnerships funding is helping Cire open many doors, and we are keen to hear what you would like to see in your community. Our Hubs team is here to create programs and activities to help everyone learn, connect and grow.  If you have an idea you’d like to share, give us a call on 1300 835 235, or email us at communityhubs@cire.org.au.

Nina Bekker – Business Develpment Manager – Cire Training & Hubs

 

Cire Children’s Services toy and equipment drive – we need your help

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Over the coming weeks Cire Children’s Services  will be reaching out to the community for donations and support for new educational toys and equipment.

Young children learn by imagining and doing. Their education and learning development is imperative to their early years’ learning; it helps to build social skills, problem solving skills and language skills. Our children’s services want to provide the best possible learning space for the children ensuring they are provided with the specific learning outcomes as outlined in the early years’ framework, which is why it is so important to offer them a variety of educational toys, equipment and experiences.

Our childcare centres, and out of school hours care programs, always need to replace or upgrade educational toys and equipment the children use due to their extensive everyday use.

We are seeking assistance from the general public and local businesses who are able to help with donations with any of the following items:

Dress ups: junior hi-vis jackets, hard hats, overalls, play costumes;

Sports: basketballs, soccer balls, tennis balls, footballs, skipping ropes, hula hoops, mini trampoline;

Vehicles: matchbox cars, little boats, trucks, aeroplanes, trains, motorbikes, wooden trains and trains set, tractors;

Animals and wildlife: Replica Australian animals, plastic bugs, butterflies, spiders, dinosaurs, horses, sea animals, farm animals, bug catchers, magnifying glasses;

Kitchen: Plastic/wooden shop/kitchen equipment, pretend food, cooking utensils;

Construction: Wooden blocks, Duplo, Lego;

Dolls: Doll prams, doll cradles, dolls house, dolls furniture, Barbies;

Puzzles: peg puzzles, floor puzzles, large 1000 piece puzzles;

Puppets; hand puppets, marionettes;

Garden tools: mini shovels, spades, rakes, straw brooms, watering cans, plastic wheelbarrows;

Hardware equipment: PVC and bamboo piping, fake grass, water trough.

If you are able to assist in any way please feel free to drop off any of these items to our office locations below.

Cire Children’s Services appreciates in advance all support and donations received and know that our children will value receiving new toys and equipment to play, learn and discover.

Yarra Junction: 2463 Warburton Hwy, Yarra Junction.
Mt Evelyn: 20 Old Hereford Rd, Mt Evelyn.
Please contact 1300 835 235 if you have any queries.
Local collection is also available. Please contact us to discuss.

If you would like to know more about Cire Children’s Services please call 5967 2776 (Yarra Junction) or 9736 1918 (Mt Evelyn).